Techno Fox
by RuneNeko
Summary: In cyberspace, she is known as the Kyuubi, the only hacker in the world to have gotten access to Area 51's top secret files... [Full summary inside][FemNaru][GaaNaru]
1. Walking Disaster

**Okay, now I'm just trying this out, just want to see how it goes. If it goes good, I'll continue it. If not, I'll probably put it on hiatus for now, and continue with my other one. **

Title: Techno Fox

Summary: In cyberspace, she is known as Kyuubi, the only hacker in the world who was able to hack into Area 51's top secret files, and not get caught until just before she completely withdrew from their servers. Many groups of dangerous people are desperately trying to find her real identity, but she wears many masks. Her new high school won't know what hit it.

Pairings: GaaNaru. Onesided SasuNaru, KibaNaru, ItaNaru, SaiNaru, NejiNaru.

Other pairings: ShikaTema, ChouIno, JiraTsun.

Future pairings: KibaHina, NejiTen, SakuLee.

Warnings: Chapter rated T for some content not suitable for younger audiences.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, Naruto would be a girl, Sakura would be flea, and Sasuke would be bowing down to Naruto's every whim.

Notes: I do not know if some of the stuff in this chapter is actually fact. So, I'm happy that its fanfiction and not wikipedia.

"I'm speaking here!" – talking

I'm a monkey's aunt – narrating

_I don't care who you are – memories/flashbacks_

"This is so lame." – online chatting/information

* * *

.:Walking Disaster:.

_Itty bitty Kitsune, all alone,  
__Looking all vunerable, prone, prone, prone.  
Come with me little Kitsune, and if you behave,  
I'll allow you to bid the world one last wave._

* * *

"_Like this?" A small blonde haired girl with amazing blue eyes asked, looking up at the person next to her._

_The person next to her just looked at the flashing computer screen in amazement. How did she do that? Feeling expecting eyes on him, he swallowed and grinned slightly, "Yes, you did my little Kitsune. Very well. Now, I want you to practice a lot from now on, don't stop."_

_The blonde grinned back, and nodded happily, going straight back to what she was doing. It was really easy, actually. She didn't understand almost all of it, but her guardian showed her how, and she's only doing what he showed her. She learned quickly, doing different things._

_Her guardian walked into the kitchen, sitting down at the table and smirking, "Well, well, well, looks like I found a diamond in the rough. Who knew such an innocent looking girl could do something like this? How is her physical training going?" He asked in a certain direction, and a smooth voice answered, "Very well. She already has the basic katas down, and has started on more advanced stuff. I've never seen a four year old that could learn that fast."_

_The owner of the voice walked calmly into the kitchen, and stood not two feet away from the man at the table. The man nodded, looking thoughtfully at the girl that was still at the computer. He stood up, the chair he was sitting on scraping the floor slightly, "Indeed. I truly cashed out this time. We will continue her lessons, then, I shall have the person I need for my plans. Just… up her training a bit, won't you?"_

"_Hai, Sir."_

* * *

_The blonde tried her hardest to hit her sensei, she really did. But a six year old could only be so good. Not two minutes later, she was hit on the cheek with a fist, sending her back several feet. She did not cry out, just stood up shakily, and charged back at her mentor. The same thing happened not three minutes later. Again, she did not cry out. She just stood up, and charged back into the spar._

_Her guardian watched from the sides as his tool kept getting stronger._

* * *

"_Can I go outside for a while? Please, I finished what you told me to." The little blonde pleaded, looking up at her guardian with big blue eyes. She knew that if she cried at all, he would hurt her. She didn't want to be on his bad side._

_His yellow eyes flashed with anger, "Iie, you may not go outside. Practice more, or go to your mentor, you are not going outside."_

_The little blonde sighed, and bowed, "Hai, Sir. Right away." She hurried to her fighting class, her tears, which were threatening to fall, were pushed back roughly. She can't cry, it'll only make everything worse. She has to be tough, strong._

_The eight year old hadn't been outside for years now. Sure, the windows were opened sometimes, and she could hear the outside sounds, but she couldn't go outside. He wouldn't allow it. Sometimes she really hated him…_

_She roughly pushed away the thoughts of hate, _'he's only making sure no one can hurt me. He's only making sure no one can hurt me. He's only making sure no one can hurt me…'_She repeated the mantra in her head, but somewhere down, deep inside, she knew it wasn't true._

* * *

_She was now ten years old. She knew when her birthday was, but she didn't dare mention it to her guardian. She tried very hard to stay on his good side, but lately… he's been in a very bad mood. She faintly wondered why._

"_Sir, are you alright?" She dared ask, lowering her eyes to the floor. Making direct eye contact with him means you're directly challenging him, and she learned, a long time ago, that doing that only meant pain. A lot of pain, and being locked in the closet. Oh, how she despised the closet. She was only put in there if she was bad, but it was so small, with little to no air, and soundproof. It completely cut off the senses, she hated it._

_He looked at her briefly before turning back to what he was doing. She knew he was in somewhat a good mood, for he didn't snap at her. She kneeled down on the floor and stayed like that until he was done._

"_I'm fine, my Kitsune. What do you want?" He pulled off his gloves carefully, and discarded them. He liked to experiment with the bodies he got off the black market. She had long gotten used to the scent, sight, and leftover bodies that he no longer used before getting taken care of by his assistant, who was also her martial arts teacher._

"_I just came to tell you that I have done as you told me to… a-and to ask a question i-if I m-may…" She mentally berated herself for her stuttering. She shouldn't stutter! He hated it when she did._

_However, he must have been in a better mood than she had anticipated, for he only chuckled, and nodded, "Go ahead."_

_She let go of the breath she didn't know she was holding, and steeled her nerves, "If I may ask… can I know why you've been in such a bad mood, sir? I know it's not my place, but…"_

_He only chuckled again, and laid his pale hand on top of her head, "The bad guys were giving me some trouble, but I dealt with them. No need to worry, my Kitsune. Now, go practice some more, and make sure you are on time for your lesson, your sensei wants to teach you something new today."_

_She smiled and nodded, "Hai! If you'll excuse me, sir."_

_He only removed his hand, and waved it lazily in a sign of dismissal. She stood, bowed, and left, going to practice._

_He chuckled again, but darkly, before returning to the body he was working on._

* * *

_She stood in front of her guardian, and her sensei, waiting for what they were going to say. Her guardian started first, "I have something important for you to do, my Kitsune. If you do it correctly, without getting caught, I'll give you one boon. If you are caught… well, let's just say the closet is going to have company for the next few days. Understand?"_

_Showing no emotion, the thirteen year old only nodded. Something brushed up against her leg, but she ignored it. Her sensei addressed her next, "I cannot teach you anymore than what you know now. Just make sure you continue to practice. Practice may not make perfect, but pretty damn close."_

_She nodded, and bowed, low, "Permission to leave?"_

_Her guardian nodded, and turned to his assistant. He nodded, and followed after the older man, who was following the blonde to her room._

* * *

_The sun felt good on her skin. She ran around outside, not even breaking a sweat as she looked at everything in the backyard of her guardians house. Said man was casually leaning against the house, in the shade, watching her. He was also thinking._

_She didn't really care at the moment what he was thinking about, just focusing on how good it was to run around outside again._

_She faintly heard her sensei talking urgently to her guardian; too busy enjoying the fresh air, and the blue, blue sky. She was snapped out of her joy, however, when her guardian abruptly grabbed hold of her arm and began to drag her back to the house._

"_What is it? Is there something wrong?" She asked, hurriedly running after her guardian. He didn't say anything, just ran into the house, and in the direction of the closet. Her heart thumping in fear, she began to struggle slightly. He only tightened his grip on her arm, and pulled the closet open. He roughly shoved her in, before closing the door. Right before he completely closed the door, she heard the front door crashing open and several voices yelling. Then, there was darkness._

* * *

"_Uzumaki Naruto, please come up to the stand." A booming sound commanded. She shot a look at her guardian, only to see a slight nod. Sullenly, she did as she was told and went up to the stand._

_A man in a grey suit came up to her with a bible, and stood in front of her, "Please put your right on the bible, Miss Uzumaki."_

_She only stared at him like he was not of this planet. He probably was, seeing as she didn't see anything but her guardian, her sensei, and the bodies that they are usually cutting open. He stood there patiently, still holding out the bible._

"_Miss Uzumaki, please put your hand on the bible." The man to her right said in a commanding voice. She just stared straight ahead, not looking at either, nor putting her hand on the bible._

_Her guardian, who was flanked by two officers, and in handcuffs, only smirked and said, "You will not get her to speak, she answers to no one but me. And I'd go to hell first before ordering her to testify against me." He chuckled darkly, sending a look full of pride at what he molded._

_She swelled up in pride at the look. She only got those rarely, only when she really pleased him. She sealed her lips shut._

_The jury roared with anger, wishing to see his death. Without her testifying against him, they could only put him in jail for the rest of his life. This man deserved death! Why wouldn't she say anything?_

"_Order in the court! ORDER IN THE COURT!" The judge boomed, pounding the mallet on the stand. The jury settled down almost immediately. He sat back in his chair and stated, "Hebi Orochimaru, you are hereby sentenced to a lifetime of imprisonment, with no chance of parole, or bail. Take him away."_

_Once she heard those words, her face morphed into one of horror. "NO!!" She screamed, jumping the stand, and running towards her guardian. The police officers tried to stop her, but she managed to dance out of their reach and hugged her guardian around his waist. Before being pulled away, she discreetly slipped something into his waist band, and heard whispered words in her ear._

"_I will come back for you, my Kitsune. Just you wait."_

* * *

Naruto looked at the school in front of her with detached awe. Her hand tightened on her bag slightly before she made her way up to the front doors.

Making her way to the office, she looked at all the posters, banners, and papers that decorated the walls of Konoha Community High. Garbage littered the floor every few feet, but the lockers were in relatively good condition.

It didn't take her long to find the office, and came face to face with a young woman with kind dark brown eyes, and short black hair. The woman smiled kindly before saying, "Ohayou, my name is Fenikkusu Shizune, and you are?"

"Uzumaki Naruto, new student." Naruto replied shortly.

Seemingly not taking notice of Naruto's behavior, she smiled again, "Ah, you are the new student we are expecting." She stood up, and led her to a closed door, before motioning for her to wait there. She then opened the door and slipped in, closing the door behind her. All Naruto could hear was a huge bang, and Shizune came back out, smiling. God, why did she smile all the time?

"You can go in now; she's ready to see you." She flashed another smile and went back to her desk. Naruto rolled her eyes before entering the spacious office. A honey blonde haired woman with the biggest bust Naruto has ever seen was sitting at a desk near the back of the office. She was writing furiously on a piece of paper. Naruto just stood there for her to finish.

Not a minute later, she looked up. She had honey brown eyes, and a tattoo of some kind of her forehead. Her hair was in two ponytails that went down her back some, and was wearing casual clothes. Huh, Naruto thought she would've worn something more… suitable? Oh well.

"Your name?" The woman asked bluntly, quirking a honey gold eyebrow.

"Uzumaki Naruto." She replied, wanting to get this over with.

"Ah, you're the student we've been expecting, no? Good, good. Now, take this note, go to room Seven-fourteen, and give it to your new homeroom teacher. Shizune will provide you with your schedule, and your teacher will get someone to show you around. Now, get lost brat, I have work to do."

Eyebrow twitching slightly, Naruto nodded, grabbed the note, and left the office. She walked up to Shizune, tapped on her shoulder and said, "Can I have my schedule please?"

Shizune nodded, and grabbed a piece of paper off a stack, and handed it to her. Naruto nodded, and walked away.

"Are you sure you don't need anyone to show you around?" Shizune half asked, half yelled after Naruto's retreating form. Naruto didn't even bother turning around. Shizune shrugged before getting back to work.

* * *

Naruto looked at the schedule she was given. First, she had double Chemistry, followed by break, then double Gym, then lunch, after that was double Information Processing, then break, and finally, Biology. She checked her watch, seeing it was quarter after nine, so her first class has already started. No problem.

Finding room seven-fourteen in five minutes, she knocked on the door, and waited. The voice inside, which sounded like it was lecturing, stopped. The door then opened, revealing a beefy man with scars on his face, a black bandana on his head, and a black trench coat that went down to his ankles that went over a black turtleneck shirt. He also wore dark brown combat boots.

"Who are you?" He asked gruffly, glaring.

"Uzumaki Naruto." She replied, returning the glare.

"Hmph, got a note from the principle?"

Naruto nodded and handed him the note. He read it quickly before crushing it in his hand, and moving away from the door. Naruto stepped into the class, and the teacher closed the door.

"Students, this is Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

Sasuke wasn't even listening to the teacher. He was too busy thinking of ways to avoid his stupid fan girls. Bunch of banshees, useless, loud, annoying banshees.

He faintly hears a knocking at the door and Ibiki-sensei shuts up to answer it. Sasuke just keeps staring ahead until Ibiki moved out of the way to let the stranger in. His eyes flicked over to the person.

It was obviously a female and he had to admit, a good looking one. She had caramel colored flawless skin, waist length blonde hair, that was tied back, pure blue eyes with a touch of black eyeliner, making her eyes stand out even more, and three whisker-like marks on each of her cheeks.

She was wearing an orange tank-top with black strips down the side, and words that says, 'I can make bad things happen to you'. She had black khaki pants with many pockets on, a belt that was loose on her waist, so one side stayed up, the other slid down some, black sandals, and black fingerless gloves. Both her ears were pierced, one more so than the other, and so was her belly button. She has a tribal tattoo on her flat stomach, a necklace that looked like three commas stuck together was around her neck, and a black backpack was slung over her left shoulder.

Sasuke heard many intakes of breath around the room.

"Students, this is Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

Naruto rolled her eyes at the reaction.

"Introduce yourself, brat, and then sit down where ever you want. I don't have all day."

"Hold on to your panties, jiji, or else they're going to run away," Naruto remarked, and then introduced herself, ignoring the death glare being sent her way. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. That's all you need to know about me."

She picked a desk near the back, in between a redhead, and a wild haired brunette. She set her backpack on the floor beside the chair, and propped her legs up on the desk.

When the teacher began to talk, and write things on the board, she dozed off.

"Wake up, brat. I will not tolerate sleeping students in my class." Ibiki yelled, throwing the chalk at her. Naruto leaned to the left ever so slightly, the chalk missing her and hitting the wall behind her.

Slightly stunned at her lazy dodge, he then said, "Since you think you can doze of in this class, why don't you solve the problem on the board? If you get it wrong, I'm deducting thirty-five points off your next test. In fact, I'm going to do that to the whole class if you get it wrong."

There were several groans of distress; many were glaring at her now. She ignored them and studied the problem.

"It's false." She answered, closing her eyes. She missed the brief look of complete shock before coughing, "And why is that, Miss Uzumaki?"

She opened her mouth to respond when the bell rang. Ibiki scowled and then yelled out their homework for the day.

Naruto picked up her backpack, and slung it over her shoulder, ignoring the boys that approached her.

**Well, tell me what you think. I wanted to make this longer, but then I thought that this is a good place to stop, just to wet your appetite. Anyway, please drop a review.**

As for the three comma thing, just think about the curse mark Orochimaru gave Sasuke in the canon.


	2. Last Resort

**I'm pretty happy, lot's of people like it already! I didn't know it would be that good. I just kind of thought it up, posted it, and in came the alerts and reviews! –Wipes away tear- Yep, I'm pretty happy!**

Summary: In cyberspace, she is known as Kyuubi, the only hacker in the world who was able to hack into Area 51's top secret files, and not get caught until just before she completely withdrew from their servers. Many groups of dangerous people are desperately trying to find her real identity, but she wears many masks. Her new high school won't know what hit it.

Pairings: GaaNaru. Onesided SasuNaru, KibaNaru, ItaNaru, SaiNaru, NejiNaru.

Other pairings: ShikaTema, ChouIno, JiraTsun.

Future pairings: KibaHina, NejiTen, LeeSaku, KakaAnko, IruShiz.

Warning: This chapter is rated T for language, content not suitable for younger audiences. Chapter contains character bashing, don't like, don't read.

Disclaimer: If I don't say this, Kishimoto would sooo sue my ass. So, sadly, or unsadly, depending on the person, I don't own Naruto.

Notes: I do not know if some of the stuff in this chapter is actually fact. So, I'm happy that its fanfiction and not wikipedia.

"I'm speaking here!" – talking

'I see dead people.' - thinking

I'm a monkey's aunt – narrating

_I don't care who you are – memories/flashbacks_

"This is so lame." – online chatting/information

Review Feedback:

DaemonWolfe: Yes, of course! Here you go!

Mellisa: Hehe, I'm really happy that you like it. And I enjoy writing her like this, it's fun. Enjoy this chapter!

Sefadora Firewood: Of course! Anything for a reader, enjoy the chapter!

Shadowninja13: I'm glad you like it, enjoy!

Azalie-Kauriu: I'm happy that you liked it, the next chapter will have what you want, I promise! Enjoy this one in the mean time!

* * *

.:'Last Resort':.

_Itty bitty Kitsune, all grown up,  
Looking all pretty, yup, yup, yup.  
What's wrong, little Kitsune, getting a little sad?  
Better suck it up, girl, before I get mad._

* * *

_A little blonde was running down the halls of her home to her lessons with her sensei. Her bare feet, which were a bit small for her size, barely made any sound on the hardwood floor._

_She quickly turned a corner and abruptly fell back on her bottom, wincing. She looked up, and saw her guardian standing there, looking less than amused. She flinched before scrambling onto her knees, and places her forehead on the floor, "Gomen nasai! Please forgive me; I'll try not to do it again!"_

_She stayed like that until she felt a hand on her head. She looked up, and saw him smiling slightly, "No worries, my Kitsune. I have some guests tonight, so your lessons for today are cancelled."_

_She nodded, and stood up, bowing again, "Permission to be excused?"_

_He nodded, saying, "Permission granted, practice your other lessons though. I want you to be the best."_

"_Hai! Ja ne." She quickly walked back to her room._

_She didn't see the smirk that found its way onto her guardians face, "Yes, the best." He chuckled darkly._

* * *

_She peeked through the door to her room, making sure no one was around before slipping out, and silently closing the door. She softly padded through the hallways, ears strained for any sounds._

_A large bang nearly made her jump out of her skin, but she managed to control the urge. She strained her ears, faintly picking up hushed voices, and groans of pain. Did they get a living body to experiment on?_

_She silently walked through the halls, the closer she got to the voices, the clearer they were. She stopped just outside the door to the room where the sounds were coming from. Controlling her breath, she listened at the door._

"_So, you really think you can get away with sneaking around my house?" Came a hiss. "What were you looking for?"_

_A groan of pain was all he got._

"_Talk, or the pain you just experienced will be dwarfed next time."_

_A whimper, and then a raspy voice said, "Okay, okay, please… I was sent… by my employer to find someone… in this house…he was looking… for a little girl. He was going… to pay me a lot… of money if I… gave him the information on… this place." Whenever he paused, a wheeze was to follow._

_Silence ensued. The little blonde didn't even dare to breathe. Some weak coughs came from the room, along with a hum, obviously from the torturer._

"_Did your… employer give you a picture for reference?" _

"_H-hai, it's in my… pocket." Came the wheezy reply._

_Some shuffling was the only sounds in the room before a hum came again, "Looks like your employer knew something about this child. Come in, my Kitsune. Come and meet my new friend."_

_The blonde uttered a tiny 'eep' before she sat on her knees, opened the door with her head down, and then placed her forehead on the floor, "Forgive me, I did not mean to eavesdrop."_

_She heard a large intake of air, but paid it no mind, "It's quite alright, my Kitsune. Come, meet my new friend. For some reason, he wants to take you away from me. What do you think about that?"_

_She looked up at the obviously tortured man tied to a chair. He had bags under his tired looking eyes, and light brown hair, which was covered by a blue bandana. He coughed under her scrutinizing gaze._

"_Why does he want to take me away?" She asked, walking into the room and standing beside her guardian. He placed an arm around her shoulders, and answered, "Because someone else wants to take you away from me, and make sure you're unhappy. Do you like to be un-"_

"_He would never make her unhappy, you bastard! Quit feeding lies to h-"_

_SMACK!_

_He found himself staring at the wall to his left with wide eyes, immense pain coming from his right cheek. He slowly brought his shocked eyes back to the smirking man, who had his arms crossed. He then looked at the girl in front of him, who still had her left hand up._

"_Don't you __**dare**__ speak without being spoken to, and you will pay the proper respect to those in power. Interrupt him again, and you will feel worse pain than that. Much worse. Understand?" She hissed venomously, not unlike her guardian, whose smirk only grew bigger._

_He placed his hand on her head and cooed, "Good girl, nicely done. Now calm down, I still want my friend to be in one piece, you know."_

"_Hai." She calmed down by taking several deeps breathes, in through the nose, out through the mouth… in through the nose, out through the mouth… just like her sensei taught her._

"_Do you like to be unhappy, my little Kitsune?" He asked, running his fingers through her silky blonde hair._

"_Iie, I don't. Not again. If he did find me… would he have taken me away?"_

"_I'd imagine not. He would go and tell his boss about you, and his boss would have taken you away. Do you want to be taken away?"_

"… _Iie, I don't. I don't want to go! Are you going to let him go, though?" She asked, looking up at him with impossibly blue eyes._

_His eyes softened, "I will take care of everything, my Kitsune, don't worry. You go on back to bed; you have a big day tomorrow."_

_She smiled brightly, hugging him around the waist for a brief moment before letting go, and bowing, "Permission to leave?"_

"_Hai, go on now, everything will be taken care of. I won't let him, or anyone else, take you away."_

_She bowed once again, before casting a venomous glare at the stranger, and left, softly closing the door behind her._

_His gaze hardened once again, turning back to his prisoner, "Hayate-kun, Hayate-kun, when will you learn? I thought you knew already that my subordinates will not accept anything but respect towards me. Now, what does that idiot want, hmm? He should know better than that. Did he really think I would leave my most precious possession unguarded?" He tsked, shaking his head. "Well, he won't have you to report anything to him, now will he? I'm afraid that with you around, with what you know, and your current place of loyalty…" He bent down slightly, whispering into Hayate's ear. "I cannot allow you to live."_

_A scream of agony followed, but it was muffled as soon as it sounded, leaving the little blonde to wonder if she actually heard it._

* * *

Naruto rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time in fifteen minutes. Why, oh why do the idiotic morons have to make gaga eyes at her? It's taken quite a bit of self-restrain to keep from throwing up her breakfast at the look. 

She caught sight of two girls, who were strutting their way towards her.

'Fuck me.' She thought to herself, sighing. Her eyes trailed back to the boys around her, their love-smitten look increasing in intensity. She glared at them all, and said bluntly, "Get lost."

Most of them left, without a word, shoulders slump in defeat. Only the braver ones, in which Naruto called them nimrods under her breathe, stayed. She rolled her eyes, and completely ignored them.

"Oi, you!" Someone screeched from beside her, causing her eardrum to throb in pain. She cast her bored gaze onto the two girls, who were wearing clothes that left little to the imagination.

The pinkette of the two said, "Here's a little warning for you, bitch. Stay away from Sasuke-kun, he's ours. If you even look at him, you'll be sorry. Got it?"

Naruto resisted the sudden urge to roll her eyes… again. She stood up to her full height, just a tad shorter than the pinkette, and asked, "Are you threatening me? 'Cause if you are, your not doing a good job at it, you eyesore."

"What. Did. You. Say?" The pinkette growled out, teeth grinding.

"Oh, so you're deaf now. Well, read my lips. Go back to your doll house, Barbie, and fix your make-up. You make Ronald MacDonald look good."

There were several more gasps, some snickering, and even some laughing from the audience they drew.

"Oh! Burn!" Someone shouted, earning several more snickers.

Naruto abruptly turned, and left, shoving her way through the crowd. She missed the look of horror, shock, and rage that flitted over the girl's overly done-up face.

She huffed, and sent a glare at her rival, who was too busy trying to hide her own giggles behind her finely manicured hand, "You got burned, and you know it, forehead."

"Shut the fuck up, Ino-pig!"

The newly recognized Ino just giggled more, snorting a couple of times. The bell rang, announcing the start of the next class. When she calmed down enough to talk clearly, she said, "Come on, Sakura! Let's get to gym!"

"Why are you so excited about sweating, and smelling like the pig you are?"

Ino scoffed, and replied, "You forgot that today is co-ed gym?"

Sakura's eyes lit up in excitement before she raced off towards the gym with speed that put a certain green spandex teenager to shame.

Ino was suddenly bombarded with a mental picture of her pink haired friend in green spandex.

Ew.

* * *

Naruto entered the girls' changing rooms. She looked around, finding the place very clean. She didn't even want to imagine what the boys' changing room looked like. 

As the other girls filed in, going directly to their assigned lockers, and changing into their gym clothes, Naruto was looking for the sensei. After the all the girls were in the changing room, a taller woman walked in. She had purple hair that was tied back in a ponytail, hard brown eyes, and was wearing revealing clothes.

"Oi, sensei! I'm new, I need some gym clothes." Naruto said bluntly, walking up to her. The hard brown eyes locked onto her icy blue ones in annoyance, before they changed to shock. Naruto quirked an eyebrow, and crossed her arms, "I kind of meant today, if that's okay with you." She said, her words dipped in sarcasm.

That seemed to snap her out of her daze, and she scowled, "Yeah, whatever. Follow me, gaki." She took off in the direction of what Naruto assumed was her office.

Her assumptions were correct. The office was nothing special, just a desk, a couple of cabinets, a couple of chairs, and a table at the back holding a whole mess of papers. Naruto briefly wondered how the hell she kept her job, if her messy office was anything to go by. The purple haired sensei trudged over to a door near the back, almost hidden by the cabinet nearby and the papers that seemed to have a life of their own. She produced a set of keys, inserted one of them in the keyhole, and opened it with practiced ease. She then disappeared for a few moments before reappearing with a bunch of white shirts, and black spandex shorts.

"The name is Mitarashi Anko. You will call me Anko-sensei, or Mitarashi-sensei, I don't give a shit. Here are your gym clothes," Anko shoved the clothes at her, and continued. "They are your responsibility. If you lose them, tough luck, you ain't getting anymore, and you have to pay to replace them. If you dirty them, you have to wash them, simple as that. I'll allow you to borrow a towel from me, but from now on, you have to bring your own. Understand, gaki?"

Naruto nodded and left the office. Anko watched her go, her eyes glazing over as she took a stroll down memory lane.

"_Okay now, Anko-chan, try again. I know you can do it. Don't disappoint me." A voice hissed in her ear. She nodded, and began to type, the first part easy. The farther she got in the codes, the harder they were. In no time at all, sweat was trickling down the sides of her face, and her skin took on a shiny sheen._

_Her fingers flew across the keyboard, and her eyes were constantly moving. She could feel the breath of her 'guardian' on her ear, as he watched her hack into a security system. She was almost there… almost…_

_The screen blinked red, symbolizing that she had been caught. She heard curses behind her, and suddenly, she was dragged from her chair by her hair. She didn't even whimper, allowing herself to be dragged somewhere._

_After what seemed like forever, he let go of her hair, and she scrambled onto her feet, "I want you to meet someone, Anko-chan. Someone who is so much better than you."_

_Anko looked at the little girl in front of her. She couldn't be older than five! How can this… fucking brat be better than her?_

_She voiced her opinion, earning herself a harsh slap on the cheek, "You will learn proper respect the easy way, Anko, or you will learn it the hard way. My little Kitsune here is seven, and she has never been caught. I have been teaching her for three years, ever since she was four, and she is much better than you. Isn't that two times less than the amount of time you took to learn? You'd better hurry to catch up, Anko-chan, or I will have no use for you."_

_His eyes hardened considerably, "In fact, there is no further use for you. Kabuto!"_

_Anko's eyes widened with fear, he did not mean what he just said! Did he?_

_Kabuto calmly walked into the room, grabbing her arm in a painful grip. Anko struggled, barely hearing the little blonde-haired girl speak to him, "Why is she struggling with Kabuto-sensei? Was she bad?"_

"_Hai, my little Kitsune," He replied, smirking. He watched with amused eyes as Anko was dragged out of the room. Anko faintly heard what was said next. "She was very bad. Kabuto is only going to punish her, don't worry, you will not see her again."_

_Anko ignored the feeling of dread that made her feel queasy._

* * *

Naruto walked out of the changing rooms in her gym clothes. The shirts were a bit baggy, just how she liked it. She scanned the rather large gym, seeing a big, green spandex clad man talking to the boys, who were on the other side of the gym. The girls were openly staring at some of the boys with hearts in their eyes. Naruto scoffed. 

"Okay, you maggots!" Anko yelled, getting the girls' attention. "We're going to be playing soccer outside with the boys today, so get your asses moving!"

Most of the girls groan, but did as they were told. Naruto began to run to the gym doors, wanting to be outside.

Once everyone was outside, the big green man stepped forward, "Okay! Before we start the soccer game, let's start with some stretching, then ten laps around the track, twenty-five push-ups, and twenty-five sit-ups."

Some groaned, but did as they were told. Naruto stretched the way she was taught to, and then started her laps. Some of the boys followed, and kept pace. After about five laps, most of the boys slowed down to walks, huffing. Naruto just kept going, four boys behind her. Two had black hair, one had brown, and the last one had red hair. One of the black haired boys, Sasuke if she remembered correctly, sped up, and passed her, sending her a smirk.

Naruto narrowed her eyes before speeding up, passing the now shocked Sasuke, and kept a very fast pace. No matter how hard he tried, he could not catch up to her.

Naruto, of course, was done first, and began on her exercises. They went by quickly, not even a problem for her. She sat down on the bleachers, and watched with impassive eyes, the rest of the students, who were still under five laps, some of them on their eighth.

The brown haired boy who was behind her with the others finished his push-ups, and sit-ups, and made his way up the bleachers, sitting down next to her.

"Hey, the name's Inuzuka Kiba."

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Yeah, I heard you burned that pink-haired bitch down there pretty badly. Is it true?" He asked.

Wondering why exactly she was talking to him, she replied, "Hai, I did. She threatened me, though, she can't threaten a kitten. Although, she might make it keel over with one look."

Barks of laughter followed her words. She raised an eyebrow at him, and then went back to watching the rest of the students, who were now starting their exercises. She faintly heard over Kiba's laughter the harsh voice of Anko yelling at them.

"Oh, dude, that was awesome. We should be friends, we'll get along fine." He wiped away a couple tears of mirth, still chuckling weakly.

"Friends?" Naruto echoed, and suddenly, there was warmth spreading throughout her body. "Friends… yeah, sure, let's be friends."

"Great! We'll talk more at lunch; let's get down there before Anko-sensei gives us detention." Kiba stood up, and waited. Naruto also stood up, and left, Kiba following close behind her.

"Okay, you maggots, get into a line! Now, Gai-sensei and I decided that it will be mixed teams. He and I each chose a captain for both teams, so if it's not you, suck it up! Alright, I chose the new kid, Naruto."

"And I, Gai-sensei, chose my ever youthful student, Lee!"

Everyone ignored the stupid scene between the two.

"Alright, Naruto, you're going first." Anko announced, crossing her arms.

Naruto stood before the lined up students and called out, "Kiba!" Kiba ran up to stand beside her.

"I choose the youthfully beautiful Sakura!" Lee called out. Sakura shivered as she hesitantly walked to Lee, standing a good five feet from him.

"The redhead." Said person calmly walked up to stand with his team. "His name is Gaara." Kiba whispered into her ear.

"Choose Sasuke!" Sakura screeched. Lee nodded and gestured to Sasuke.

"You," Naruto started, and then heard a whispered, "Neji." She nodded and repeated herself. "Neji!"

"TenTen!"

Naruto pointed to the blonde, "Oi, Goldilocks, over here." Again, Kiba whispered the name in her ear, "Ino."

"Shino!"

"You, big-bone." Kiba sighed in relief, "His name is Chouji." Said boy happily walked to his team, giving Naruto a smile.

"Sai!"

Naruto pointed to a nervous looking blue-haired girl, "You get over here." She nodded meekly, and did as she was told. "Her name's Hinata."

"Shikamaru!"

The rest of the boys and girls were put into teams in the next five minutes, most of them having to sit out for the first game.

"Good, now that the teams are good, let's start the game!"

The game was pretty intense, everyone played, except for Sakura, Ino, and the other girls, who just sat off to the side and gossiped. Naruto quickly picked up how to play and gave the opposite team a great challenge. They ended up with a tie, and there was five minutes left of the game. And Naruto had the ball.

They didn't know what hit them.

* * *

**Okay, the rest of the school day will be revealed in the next chapter, along with some fighting. I just wanted to post this now, seeing as I am going to be gone for the weekend, and I want to come back to lots of reviews! Hehe, thanks to you who reviewed! I didn't know it was that good. Keep reading. I love you all!**


	3. The Hell Song

**Well, first of all, I would like to thank my lovely reviewers. Second, I'm sorry for taking so long; I didn't know you weren't supposed to work **_**off**_** a floppy disk, so my whole third chapter was lost. I'm making it up to you by making this chapter extra long, so thanks for waiting!**

Summary: In cyberspace, she is known as Kyuubi, the only hacker in the world who was able to hack into Area 51's top secret files, and not get caught until just before she completely withdrew from their servers. Many groups of dangerous people are desperately trying to find her real identity, but she wears many masks. Her new high school won't know what hit it.

Pairings: GaaNaru. Onesided SasuNaru, KibaNaru, ItaNaru, SaiNaru, NejiNaru.

Other pairings: ShikaTema, ChouIno, JiraTsun.

Future pairings: KibaHina, NejiTen.

Warning: This chapter is rated T for language, content not suitable for younger audiences.

Disclaimer: If I don't say this, Kishimoto would sooo sue my ass. So, sadly, or unsadly, depending on the person, I don't own Naruto.

Notes: I do not know if some of the stuff in this chapter is actually fact. So, I'm happy that its fanfiction and not wikipedia.

"I'm speaking here!" – talking

'I see dead people.' - thinking

I'm a monkey's aunt – narrating

_I don't care who you are – memories/flashbacks_

"_You_!" - emphasis on words, or yelling.

"This is so lame." – online chatting/information

Review Feedback:

Hime: Yeah, I know. I already apologized for the late update.

Carmade: I can see that you had a lot of sugar that day, hehe. It's apparent with the way you typed, hehe.

Monica mouze: I'm glad you can wait; there are some people who just don't like to do so.

Paradise: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.

Ddd: Lol, yeah, my stories are kind of easy to miss, some people just don't read every one of the summaries for stories. Thanks for the review.

Smirking Menace: Wow, you're a fast reader. That's longer than I usually go. Whoot! I get to go into the favorites!

Fred Black: Lol, I'm glad you liked it, your review was amusing.

DaemonWolfe: No problem! Hope you like this chapter!

* * *

.:'The Hell Song':.

_Itty bitty Kitsune, looking all cool,  
__Trained to be a killer, cruel, cruel, cruel.  
__Don't leave, little Kitsune, don't be a fool,  
__Nobody wants a rusty old tool._

* * *

_She stared straight ahead, her eyes practically dead, unseeing in the inky blackness that surrounded her. Her knees were drawn up to her chest, with her arms around them and her chin resting on her knees. She's been in that position for hours upon hours, she didn't know, she could have been in the Closet for years, and she wouldn't know. She couldn't hear anything, the Closet swallowed any sound made. It was like having earmuffs on her ears._

_She felt numb. She could feel the fabric of her clothes, which were stale with sweat from her previous lesson. She couldn't smell the stale scent; the Closet swallowed it, like sound, and sight. She didn't even try her taste, she had nothing _to_ taste. She felt hunger pains, worse this time, but she didn't hear them. She felt the pain, and the vibrations it made, but not the sound. Why can't she hear?_

_One thing she knows for sure about the Closet._

_She hates it._

_With her entire being._

_But she couldn't do anything about it, unless she was completely obedient, and then there wouldn't be any need for the room. But damn it! She was nine years old, she needs friends! She needs the sun, the grass, the wind! Oh how she missed the feeling of the wind on her skin, caressing her caramel colored skin, and whispering sweet nothings into her ear. _

_The door swung open without a sound and light flooded into the Closet like water. She stayed where she was, closing her eyes so she wouldn't be blinded by the sweet, sweet light that lay outside the Closet, and flooding in. She tensed a bit when she felt a hand on her head._

"_How is my little Kitsune, hm? Are you hungry?" His voice hissed in her ear, sending shivers down her spine from the sensation._

_She unconsciously leaned into the touch and replied, "Hai, sir."_

_A chuckle was heard, "Did my little Kitsune learn her lesson?"_

"_Hai, sir." She replied immediately, wanting out of the room. She was also sincere about it. She had learned her lesson. If she didn't… well, he would find a more suitable punishment for her. That usually didn't end well._

"_Will my Kitsune listen to me from now on?" He hissed again, she could hear the smug tone in his smooth voice._

"_Hai, sir."_

"_Good, now come along. Your sensei is waiting for you; he is going to teach you something new after you eat." He stood, and waited for her to get up._

_She unfurled her legs, feeling exactly how cramped they were, and began to carefully get up onto her feet. She was mindful enough to go fast, for he did not like to wait when giving a direct order._

_He followed her out of the Closet, oblivious to her thoughts, which were settled on the fleeting glance out the back, and the feeling of the wind on her skin still lingering._

* * *

_The soft pattering of feet on the floor was all that was heard in the hallway as she made her way to her lesson. Her breath was coming out in soft pants, barely heard over her feet, and her hair flowing out in a sun-kissed blanket behind her._

_She skids to a stop when she heard his voice call out for her in the room she passed by in her rush. She ran back, kneeled quickly, and bowed, "Hai, sir?"_

"_Would you like to see some of my pets? They have been dying to meet you." He asked, studying her as he takes a sip of his tea. She looks up, and gives him a confused look before nodding._

"_Come then, your sensei will understand." He said, standing up, and walking through another door that led to a room she had never been in before. She got up and followed politely, keeping her hands by her side._

_When she entered the room, her jaw dropped slightly at the size of the room, and the hundreds of tanks that littered every table, every surface available._

"_Sir?" She asked in a questioning voice, staring longingly at one of the tanks. At his nod, she quickly walked up to the tank and peered inside, careful not to get too close, or touch the glass. Inside was a small green snake, which was curled up in a loose circle. She moved on to another tank, and found a different snake, this one was brownish, an odd looking tail making soft _tshh tshh_ sounds. It stared at her with beady black eyes._

_She moved on, and with every tank, there was a different snake, some of them stared at her, some of them ignored her presence, like she was nothing new. At one point, her sensei knocked on the door -though she couldn't hear it from where she was- and relayed a message of some sorts to her guardian. He then gave one look towards her, and left, certain she would not get into any trouble. He would only be gone for a moment, anyway._

_She looked around after inspecting another snake, and her searching gaze landed on a tank that was all alone in the corner of the room, darkness practically enshrouded it._

_She made her way towards it, and peered inside, but she could not see anything._

_Curiosity getting the better of her, she nimbly climbed onto the table the tank was placed upon, and stood over the tank, slightly squinting her eyes to help her see better. There was a slight movement from in the tank, and she almost missed it. Smiling in victory, she reached her hand in, unaware of the danger, and felt the bottom of the tank blindly. Something hissed, and coiled around her arm. She giggled at the feeling as the snake, pitch black in color with weird comma designs on its head, slithered around her arm, and around her body. Her giggle increased in volume as it settled comfortably around her neck, the rest of it's five foot body around her other arm, and around her torso. It hissed soothingly, reaching out to 'taste' the air._

_She made her way back to the door with her discovery._

_And it was then that he came back into the room, dropping the papers he had neatly stacked in his arms as he stared in shock at the picture before him._

_Her sensei, having heard the papers dropping to the floor, walked into the room to question what was wrong when his confused gaze flicked to her. They suddenly went wide, and his face paled, his mouth openly gaping like a goldfish._

"_H-how is this e-even p-possible?" He asked, looking towards the eldest in the room, who studied her with narrowed, thoughtful eyes._

"_What is wrong sensei? Sir? Did I do something wrong?" She asked, uncertain. As if trying to comfort her, the snake slightly tightened its hold on her, and rubbed its head against her cheek. She smiled and giggled, petting it on top of its head. She didn't know if it was right to do so, but it seemed to enjoy it._

_After observing them both, he replied, "No, there is nothing wrong, my little Kitsune. I just need you to give him to me before he bites you. He is a very dangerous snake, and I don't want you to get hurt." He moved forward to collect the snake when it reared, sharp, five inch fangs baring at him in a hiss of annoyance, and was that… over protectiveness?_

_He moved backwards, carefully watching the dangerous and now confusing snake. It settled back down on her shoulders, and its body relaxed some. She started to reprimand him, and he watched in fascination as the snake took it all. Her aura and scent were enraged, but the snake did not do anything about it. It just simply took the scolding._

"_Sugoi," he breathed still watching the snakes movement, and body language. "She has it completely under her control, and she doesn't even know what she is doing!" He turned to his assistant, who was still pale-faced as he watched the two get to know one another. "Kabuto, prepare a tank in her room for me, she will be having company in her room from now on."_

_Kabuto turned to him, "A-are you sure, Sir? What if it turns on her during the night and-"_

"_Don't question my decision, Kabuto, just do it. I know, for sure, that it will do no such thing, it is simply infatuated with her. If we tried to keep them apart, the snake will most likely go and find her, or bite one of us to get to her. We don't want either, so do as I say." He cut him off, sending him a level glare._

"_I would like to know one thing, Sir." Kabuto asked, looking back at the two._

"_What is it?"_

"_Why is it vicious to you, and not to her?" He asked uncertainly._

_He heard him chuckle, "As you know, this snake is of a dying breed. The sole reason they are dying is because they need a human to bond with, and they feed off their life force to live. In return to the life force, the chosen human will gain uncanny abilities granted to the snake. I had high hopes that this one had chosen me, but as you can see, not everything goes my way, but at least this works to my advantage."_

_A giggle cut off anymore discussion between the two as the black snake continued to 'taste' her with its forked tongue._

"_Go now, Kabuto, I want it to be a surprise for being such a good girl." He said, still studying the two with narrow, thoughtful eyes. Kabuto nodded, bowed, and left to do what he was told. He could hear the barely contained shrieks of laughter ring through the hallways as he made his way to her room. _

_Things got a lot more interesting._

* * *

_She dragged herself to her room, panting harshly. Her lesson didn't go so well. When she refused to learn what they had to teach her, they gave her a punishment in pain, before offering again. Then she agreed, but that didn't mean she was going to use it against others._

_Entering her room, and closing the door behind her, she walked over to the tank in her room, and was greeted by her best friend, who immediately wrapped itself around her. She smiled softly and stroked its head, walking to her bed and sitting down._

"_Oh Kurome, I feel so lonely at times," she whispered to him. "Why are they teaching me those things? Do they really want me to become what they are trying to mold me into?"_

_Kurome hissed comfortingly, wrapping itself firmly around her to keep her warm. Her smile returned as she carefully maneuvered him so she could lie down._

"_You'll be with me forever, won't you, Kurome?" She asked sleepily, yawning. He hissed in response, curling up all around her. She smiled sleepily, pulling up a blanket to cover the both of them and fell into a deep slumber._

_Her last words were, "Oyasuminasai, saiai."_

* * *

Naruto grinned maliciously, making some of the opposing team back up a bit in fear.She was having… _fun_. She's never had this much fun before, it was so exhilarating! As soon as the whistle blew, she shot forward with the ball, her team mates flanking her to give her more cover. 

Several guys tried to steal the ball from her, but she quickly put them into their place, via eating grass, and continued on. When she reached a suitable point to kick the ball from, she grinned at the goalie before kicking the ball in with a powerful kick.

The goalie, sad to say, didn't know what hit him.

Naruto's team yelled in triumph, they had finally won against the team with Sasuke in it! Naruto gave one disappointed look at the goalie, turned on her heels, and left the field. Everyone was wondering where she was going.

"Okay maggots! Good game, now hurry up and get changed before the bell rings!" Their sensei yelled.

Oh, that's why.

They followed suit, and left the playing field, the one known as Shikamaru quietly walked up to the goalie net, and looked down at the dazed Sai. He then kneeled down beside him and cocked his head to the side. Then, he sighed and grabbed his arm, hoisting him up from the ground and helping him walk towards the school.

"Mendekuso."

* * *

Naruto sighed as she left the changing rooms, escaping the annoying fangirlism inside. Yeesh, did they _have_ to be that loud? Her ears are still ringing with the squealing of the two banshees. 

The bell rang right at that moment, and her stomach growled loudly. Man she was hungry. Looking around, she tried to spot Kiba, but he was nowhere to be found.

'Probably left towards the cafeteria already,' she thought to herself.

Someone suddenly put a hand on her shoulder, and she reacted without thinking. She swiftly grabbed the hand, twirled around with the hand still in her grasp, making it twist painfully, shoved it against the victim's back, and using her other hand, putting the victim into a painful headlock.

She heard a painful grunt come from the person in front of her and she immediately snapped out of it. Letting go, the person fell forward, and landed on his knees, panting slightly. She immediately recognized the person.

"Kiba! Gomen nasai!" She said quickly, helping him up.

"Holy shit, girl! How the hell did you do that? I couldn't even move!" Kiba exclaimed, looking at her with something a kin to awe. She smiled sheepishly, and scratched the back of her head.

"I've had training, gomen about that. You shouldn't sneak up on me; it could have some painful repercussions."

"I can see that," he replied, grinning. "Let's go now, I'm starving!"

Naruto nodded, and Kiba led her to the cafeteria. The place was huge, a little bigger than the gym. Tables were set up in rows, and there was a long line up at the counter where the food was. The room was filled with chatter, from low to high.

"Come on! Let's go get our lunch and I'll introduce you to the gang," he said, leading her towards the weaning line. He grabbed a tray for himself, piled it high with food, and paid for it. Naruto did the same.

"Wow," Kiba uttered, eyeing her tray.

"What?" She asked, looking nonchalant about it. What was his problem?

"Oh, nothing, just kinda figured you to be the anorexic type, like most girls are. You just kind of surprised me with the amount of food there. Are you sure you can eat all of that?"

She shrugged, and said slyly, "You're just going to have to find out, don't ya?"

Kiba grinned back.

He then led her to a table in the corner of the cafeteria that was already being used by some other people Naruto recognized. There was that shy girl (Hinata?), Shino, Shikamaru, and Chouji sitting there. Kiba sat beside the girl and tapped the seat next to him. Naruto obliged and sat down, making herself comfortable.

"Okay, Naruto, this here, is Hyuuga Hinata, she's really shy, that's Nara Shikamaru, you can't find a lazier guy than him, that's Aburame Shino, he's a bug collector, and that's Akamichi Chouji, his family runs several restaurants. Everyone, this is Naruto."

"Mendekuso, nice to meet you, Naruto," Shikamaru drawled out, eating his lunch.

"Yeah, it's… great to see a girl… that doesn't… worship the… ground Uchiha… Sasuke walks on… nice to… meet you." Chouji piped up, taking a bit of food with every pause. Naruto quirked an eyebrow, and nodded.

"I-I'm p-pleased to meet y-you're a-acquaintance, N-naruto-kun." Hinata said shyly, doing a little finger dance. Naruto smiled at her, and nodded.

"…" Shino didn't say anything, but he did nod towards her. She nodded back, and began to eat.

"So, did anyone hear what Naruto said to Sakura earlier today? She was totally burned!" Kiba said excitedly.

"Yeah, I… heard that she was… burned by some… new kid. I didn't… think it was… you Naruto." Chouji said, looking at her.

Naruto crossed her arms and said, "It's her fault. She really does make Ronald MacDonald look good."

There was laughter at the table, coming from Kiba and Chouji. Shikamaru smiled humorously, and Hinata was giggling. Shino wasn't doing anything.

Naruto continued to eat, all the while answering some questions Kiba shot at her, most of them were left unanswered. Finally, the bell rang, and it was time for class. What was left of the population of the cafeteria skittered out.

"What class you got, Naruto?" Kiba asked, walking beside her.

"Double information processing, you?"

"Double CPT. I guess I'll be seeing you at break then?"

"May-be," Naruto smirked, and then waved as he went down a different hallway. She looked to her right, and saw Shikamaru there, looking at her oddly.

"What is it?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

He shook his head, and kept walking. Naruto narrowed her eyes, but left it alone. She saw Shikamaru turn into the computer lab, and go to a computer. Naruto looked around, and spotted a computer in the back, right in the corner. She made her way over, and put her stuff down, starting up the computer.

She signed on using her log-in she got before coming to the school, and waited for it to load. Before it completely loaded, someone stopped beside her. Annoyed, she turned her head to the invader, only to see coal black eyes, pale skin, and black hair.

"Can I help you?" She asked, looking like she would rather step in shit than help him.

"Hn," He said. "You're in my computer. Move."

Cocking her eyebrow, she stood up and said, "Make me."

His eyes narrowed, and he said, "Move it, or else."

"I was here first. First come, first serve, jerk. Now get lost." Naruto crossed her arms, not moving from the computer he obviously wanted.

"Look, there are other computers. Choose one of them and give me back mine." He said through clenched teeth.

"Then why don't you?" Naruto challenged.

Clenching his fists, he answered, "Because that one is mine!" He pointed to the computer she was at.

Naruto adopted an 'oh' look, and then started looking all over the computer. Confused, he asked, "What the hell are you doing?"

She looked at him all serious, "I'm looking for your name. If it really was yours, I'd find your name on it. But, this computer does not have one, so piss off pretty boy."

He clenched his fists tighter, and then smirked, "Do you even know who I am?"

Naruto sat down, put her elbow on the desk, put her chin on her hand, and looked up at him in fake interest, "Iie, may I acquire the name of the person standing so boldly in front of me like he was the king of the world?"

He shoved his hands in his pockets, did his I-don't-give-a-shit pose, and said, "Uchiha Sasuke."

She stood up suddenly, eyes wide, and exclaimed, "Oh! _The_ Uchiha Sasuke, the one people said to have a nine meter pole shoved up his ass? _That _Uchiha Sasuke? I'm so _sorry_ Sasuke-sama, I'll be sure to move right away!" Naruto nodded eyes wide.

Sasuke ignored the pole comment, and smirked smugly. No girl could resist his charms.

Her features then turned to a look of disgust and she abruptly sat down, crossed one leg over the other, crossed her arms, and said, "Not!" She brought her hand up to her face, pulled a bit of skin under her eye down, and stuck out her tongue.

Clenching his teeth, he said, "Why you-"

"Uchiha-san, you might want to sit down before I give you a detention," a voice cut him off. Sasuke glared at her before doing what he was told and claimed a computer at the other end of the row. Naruto smirked before looking at the teacher.

He looked almost exactly like Shikamaru, his hair was the same way, and he had the same slouch. Now Naruto knew where Shikamaru got it from.

"You must be Uzumaki Naruto, correct?" He stated rather than asked. Naruto nodded. "Do you have any previous experience with computers at all?"

"Hai, my guardian made sure I was well acquainted with one."

"Good," he said, and sat down at his computer. "Class, I want you to continue with that project I set for you previously, while I test Uzumaki-san here."

Everyone else got to work, except Shikamaru, who was busy doing other things. He probably got the work done already.

"Uzumaki-san, please get to work on the project I sent you. Send me the results when you are finished."

"Hai, Nara-sensei."

She completely ignored the slightly baffled look on her sensei's face, and got to work. It was a list of definitions that she had to answer without looking them up, how the hard drive worked, how the computer ran, how to check for viruses, etc. basically, everything you can use to take care of a computer. Naruto sighed at the easy work, but decided to make all of her answers easy, and not complicated like how she wanted to type them.

She was done by the time the bell rang for sixth period, and she sent it to the return email. She then checked her mail, went on some of her writing sites, and some other sites.

When the bell rang, she logged off, collected her things, and left to go and find her next class. She had to control the urge to suddenly rip off the arm that settled on her shoulder before she got a chance to get out of the very stuffing classroom.

The arm turned her around, and she came face to face with Uchiha Sasuke… a very pissed Uchiha Sasuke.

"Can I help you, Uchiha?" She asked, arms crossed.

He smirked before saying, "Yeah, you can make it up to me by going out on a date with me."

She gasped, eyes wide, "_The_ Uchiha Sasuke is asking me, a lonely peasant, out on a date? I'm _flattered_." She asked, hand on her chest. Feigning shock was so easy.

Sasuke nodded, "Pick you up at seven then?"

"Oh, I _don't_ know what to say!"

"Say yes then," Sasuke smirked again, standing closer to her.

"I-" The feigned shock abruptly turned to disgust when she felt a hand near her ass. "Hentai!" She screeched, and backhanded him harshly. He fell backwards, left cheek bright red in a shape of a hand. "If you _ever_ touch me again, your face is the _last_ thing you have to worry about! And for the record, what any self-respecting girl would _want_ to go out with a stuck-up prick like _you_? Now, if you'll excuse me, _Sasuke-sama_, I have class, and I would rather attend it than spend another _second_ in your unbearable _presence_."

She then turned on her heal and left, not even looking back. Sasuke stared after her, eyes wide, and his mouth open. Did she just… hit him?

Bringing his hand up to his face, he winced when he felt the tender area. Is this what it felt like to get slapped? He kept his hand on his cheek, and slowly got up from where he fell. He kept his face down, his hair shadowing his face. His hand fell down to his side, and his shoulders began to shake.

A low chuckling could be heard that scared whoever was in the computer lab at the moment. It grew in volume until he was clutching his stomach, and tears of mirth were made apparent at the corners of his eyes.

He finally settled down a couple of seconds later, and a smirk formed on his face. He then looked up, and in his coal black eyes, you could see excitement that was completely foreign to them. A grin spread across his face, and his eyes took on a new look as he pictured the new girl in his mind.

He then picked up his scattered things, and made his way to his next class.

If anyone looked at his eyes right then, they would've seen a look of possessiveness, a bit of lust, and… awe?

* * *

Naruto sat down in a desk near the back with a huff, and put her chin into her left hand, her elbow resting on the desk. She watched the rest of the students file in with boredom apparent on her features. She just wished that the school day would end, and she could go home. She missed him already. 

She saw the Uchiha walk into the room, the red welt on his cheek prominent on his pale face, and immediately, his fan girls were hanging off his arms, batting their overdone eyelashes. They then screeched about what happened to his 'handsome' face, and immediately tried to find the perpetrator. Their eyes landed on Naruto, and she pretended to ignore them.

They were about to walk up to her when the teacher walked in and ordered them to take a seat and shut up. Naruto smirked as they skittered to their seats.

Naruto returned her attention to the teacher to find that he was heading her way.

"Ah, you must be new. I'm Mokuton Yamato, you can call me Mokuton-sensei, or Yamato-sensei, I don't care which." He said kindly.

"Hai, my name is Uzumaki Naruto," she said back, smiling slightly.

He nodded, "Welcome to Konoha High."

She nodded and then he returned back to the front of the class. Then, when he tried to call for quiet, nobody heeded his words.

"_I said settle down!_" He half yelled, and glared at them all. Suffice to say, they all shut their flapping mouths at that moment. Naruto didn't find the glare too scary, seeing as she was kind of used to them, but he did do a good job.

"Now that I have your attention, did any of you finish your assignments I assigned last week?" He asked, and several people began to fish around inside their binders.

Once he had gotten a fair stack of papers, he put them into a folder, and turned back to the class, "Good. I have picked out another assignment for you, but this one you can be paired up for. As many of you know, we are entering our study of reptiles and amphibians, so I would like you to find a partner to do the assignment with. _Not now_," he warned when people began to look around for partners. "When I am finish. Back to the matter at hand. I want you and your partner to look up, and research either a reptile or an amphibian; it's entirely your choice. Just make sure to tell me by tomorrow what you are looking up so I can write it down. Those who have chosen a topic someone else has, you are to choose another one. Do you understand?"

There were several nods, "Good, now on with you. I want a five page essay about your chosen reptile or amphibian on my desk by next week, same day."

When he finished talking, all the fan girls practically flew to Sasuke's desk, and began to ask to be his partner. Because they were crowding him, he couldn't get to Naruto to ask her.

Naruto, herself, was looking for Kiba to be partners with. When she finally spotted him, he was asking Hinata to be partners. Shrugging, she looked around, seeing almost everyone paired up. Except for the redhead, whom nobody went near, and… Sasuke. Naruto scowled when he looked at him, and opted for the redhead to be partners with.

Not seeing Sasuke trying to break free from the mob of girls, she made her way over to the redhead, and asked, "Hey, Gaara right?"

He looked at her for a couple of moments, before nodding, "Great, you want to be partners for this project?"

He stared at her for another couple of moments before asking, "Why?"

She scowled, and cocked her head towards Sasuke, who was making his way over to them with a fierce frown on his face, "Better than him."

He thought about it a moment, before glancing at Sasuke, who was glaring at him hatefully. He then returned his attention back to Naruto and nodded. She smiled a little.

Suddenly, she was forced around, and the smile fell from her face, "What the hell do you want, teme?"

"You, me, partners." He growled out, glaring at Gaara. He glared back. Naruto crossed her arms, and said, "Ooo, sorry, already taken. I'm sure some of your fan girls would _die_ to be paired up with you, why don't you just stop being a prick and accept one of them?"

She then turned around, seated herself in the desk beside Gaara's and brought out her stuff to take down some notes.

She looked up to see Sasuke still there, glaring at Gaara. Gaara, in turn, was glaring back. She sighed and rolled her eyes, "Oi, jerk-face!"

He turned to her suddenly, a smug expression on his face, "Shoo fly, don't bother us."

He then scowled, sent one more glare at Gaara, and left, thunder clouds literally hanging over his head.

Naruto turned her attention back to Gaara, "Do you have any ideas for the reptile we should look up?"

He shook his head, his blazing red hair tousling a bit, "No, you?"

"I do," she nodded. "Have you ever heard of the Tenfuuin?"

"Hai, it's supposed to be really rare. There isn't very much information on them at all." He replied monotonously, eyeing her curiously. Why would she want to research a species of snake that was so rare, nobody had any accurate information on it?

"I just so happen to own one."

His eyes widened slightly. She owned one? "That's… interesting. Is that what you want to write our essay about?"

She shrugged, "Why not? Save us a lot of time, and I have a feeling that after this little section about reptiles and amphibians, I'm going to fail. So might as well get a good mark now while I can."

He nodded, and she smiled a little. She then stood up, and made her way to the front where she told Yamato which species of reptiles she was going to research, and her partner. Once everything was in order, she made her way back to the desk her stuff was on.

"Okay, all set. When do you want to come over to see it?"

Gaara shrugged.

Naruto frowned slightly, "Then, how about Thursday after school?"

Gaara thought a moment before nodding. It's not like he had anything better to do.

"Great," she said, and right then, the bell rang. "Later, Gaara." She hurried off, dodging fan guys on her way out.

It wasn't until he was on his way home when he realized that she was _casual_ to him. What an odd girl.

* * *

Naruto opened the door, and walked in, closing the door behind her. She could hear the clink of dishes in the kitchen and the television in the living room on a sports channel. She took off her shoes, placed them neatly in the closet, and made her way to her room. 

"Hey Naru-chan, how was your first day?" Her guardian asked when she entered the kitchen. Naruto glared at her, and then wordlessly left towards her room. She was then stopped in the hallway when her second guardian jumped in front of her and tried to get her into a headlock.

"Gaki! How was your day?" He asked, trying to catch her to put her into a headlock, but she dodged expertly, and kicked him in the shin before upper cutting him roughly. He landed on his back, groaning slightly from pain as she walked passed him to her room.

"Don't touch me," she growled, and slammed the door behind her.

He got up, and rubbed his chin, sighing. Making his way into the kitchen, he looked into the worried eyes of his wife, "Same as ever."

She, too, sighed, and sat down at the table, "That bastard really has her wound around his finger, doesn't he?" She mumbled her face in her hands. "Will she ever get over him and start her life over?"

"I don't know, Tsunade. We don't know the extent of power he has over her, seeing as she's never had a civilized conversation with us. She wouldn't even crack under Ibiki." He looked forlorn.

"Jiraiya, we need to try something different. We _need_ that girl to give the judge enough evidence to put him to death. If she doesn't, they can't convict him," Tsunade was desperate, she _wanted_ him dead!

"The only thing we can do is continue to be her guardian. Maybe one day, we can melt her heart enough for her to tell us what he did while she stayed with him. Until then, don't mention it, and make sure she feels safe here. Although, I don't know how she could possibly feel that with that snake in her room."

Tsunade chuckled.

* * *

Naruto sighed as she set down her bad on the floor near the door, and immediately made her way to the tank that took up a majority of her room. She could hear a hissing coming from within, "Kurome, I'm back." 

The hissing grew louder as the thirteen foot snake slowly made its way out of the tank and wound itself around her frame. She smile and walked towards the stereo, easily carrying the snake's weight. She put on her custom CD and made sure the volume was a safe level before pressing play.

She then lay down on her bed, snuggling up to Kurome as he made himself comfortable, making sure she was securely wrapped up in his long body.

Naruto hugged his midsection, his head resting on her neck, "Oh Kurome, I wish he was here now. Stupid people and their stupid ideals. Why couldn't they just leave us alone, I was perfectly content with staying with him. There was nothing wrong with staying with him, I was happy!" She felt him tighten around him as a sign of comforting. She smiled.

"And there is that prick Sasuke, he actually had the nerve to touch my ass!" She heard him hiss angrily near her ear. "I know, stupid prick. And then he goes all possessive and tries to take me out on a date, _and_ tries to be my partner in biology. That reminds me. You don't mind if I bring this guy over to help with my project, do you?"

She heard a soft hiss, "Okay, he won't be here long, promise," another hiss. "No, he isn't like all those other guys, at least, not yet. Don't worry; if he tries anything, you have my permission to taste his ass."

She chuckled when he hissed back, and hugged him a bit tighter, "I miss him so much, you know," she mumbled, willing away the tears that threatened to spill. "He was the first person to see my worth, and they had to take that away because they thought he was dangerous. None of them has lived with him most of their lives; they don't know what he is really like. I wish he would escape already, and take me away; far, far away…" She drifted into slumber, drowsy from how warm she was with her reptilian pet.

She didn't hear the affirming hiss that came not a couple seconds later concerning her wish.

**Whew! I didn't think it would be this long! Wow, this has been the most I've ever written, I'm serious! Well, I think I'm at least content with this chapter, as it foreshadows a lot of things. Sorry if the characters are a bit OoC, but I couldn't help but put in Sasuke's sudden infatuation with Naruto. The other characters of the one-sided Harem will be revealed in later chapters. Oh yeah, it may seem like I'm making Orochimaru into a good guy, but thats how Naruto views him. We all know that the guy can make himself look like God with the right words and actions. Don't worry, all will work out in the end.**

**Thanks to you who have waited patiently for this chapter, for I didn't try to make it so late. I blame the floppy disk! Anyway, 'til next time! And make sure to drop a review, I'll be sure to pick 'em up! –hint hint- I update faster with more reviews!**

Tenfuuin – seal of heaven. I didn't know what the actual cursed seal name was in Japanese, the one that Orochimaru gave Sasuke in the canon. I thought it was appropriate with its designs and all. Eh heh, I know it was kind of weird when I made them have a conversation, but I think, that if you spent enough time with an animal, you can actually tell what their mood is, or what they want. I should know, I'm kind of like a crazy cat lady, I know all the right places to scratch, the foods they like, and when they want their food (which is when they drive me up the wall if I don't feed them right away).

Oyasuminasai, saiai - good night, beloved.

If anyone is willing to be a English-Japanese translator for me, I'd be more than happy! It's kind of nerve racking trying to find an appropriate translation, and when I think I do, it ends up wrong, and I'm the one dying of embarrassment. –blinks- Well, I do that anyway when my mom and I are out for lunch or something, but that's a different story.

More of Naruto's personality later, though you will start to see her acting a bit of her canon self when she is around people she likes/friends with. Anyone who guesses exactly how her personality works, I'll update even faster!

I know that this snake isn't real at all, just thought I would make up a new one, seeing as any old one wouldn't work into my story well. More information on the Tenfuuin snake will be revealed in later chapters, along with some relationship building! Yay for GaaNaru!


	4. In Too Deep

**Yay! Me got lotsa reviews! Hehe, and I even got a translator, I'm so happy! Anyway, just to let yall know, I'm going to make Sasuke a bit obsessive in this story. Other things will be revealed, and some more characters are going to enter the picture! Yay for you and me! Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

Summary: In cyberspace, she is known as Kyuubi, the only hacker in the world who was able to hack into Area 51's top secret files, and not get caught until just before she completely withdrew from their servers. Many groups of dangerous people are desperately trying to find her real identity, but she wears many masks. Her new high school won't know what hit it.

Pairings: GaaNaru. Onesided SasuNaru, KibaNaru, ItaNaru, SaiNaru, NejiNaru.

Other pairings: ShikaTema, ChouIno, JiraTsun.

Future pairings: KibaHina, NejiTen, IbikiAnko, AsuKur.

Warning: This chapter is rated M for coarse language, content not suitable for younger audiences.

Disclaimer: If I don't say this, Kishimoto would sooo sue my ass. So, sadly, or unsadly, depending on the person, I don't own Naruto.

Notes: I do not know if some of the stuff in this chapter is actually fact. So, I'm happy that its fanfiction and not wikipedia.

Side Note: Nobody but Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Naruto knows who Kyuubi really is. That fact was not revealed during the investigation/interrogation when Orochimaru and Kabuto were imprisoned, and when Naruto was interrogated afterwards.

"I'm speaking here!" – talking

'I see dead people.' - thinking

I'm a monkey's aunt – narrating

_I don't care who you are – memories/flashbacks_

"_You_!" – emphasis on words/yelling

"This is so lame." – online chatting/information

Review Feedback:

Imnofangirl – Hehehe, I wish I had a snake too, but I have two cats, two kittens, a dog, and a dwarf hamster. There is no way in hell for me to get one. Thanks for the review!

Envygreedgreenthunder – Well, I didn't initially plan for her to be on the computer hacking and stuff 'til later in the story, but I might just have some, I quote 'being all techno' next chapter. Thanks for the review!

Magic Crystal Rose – Aww, that is so nice! Thank you! wipes tear I don't get reviews like this often, but when I do, it just makes me feel good. I will definitely continue this story, and update faster. I hope I hear from you again! Thanks for the review!

Cheza'flower'silver'wolf – I sooo know what it feels like to review a lot of other stories. Thanks for dropping the review for me!

Itachisgurl93 – Hehe, yes, and I have special plans for that wish! Keep reading, you might just find out what!

xXKuroTenshi666Xx - grins Thanks! And I have read your GaaNaru stories, they are really good in my opinion! Thanks for the review!

Arcane wings – Thanks, and don't worry about the GaaNaru action, a bit of bonding is going to happen in the next chapter, and from there, their relationship will grow! Thanks for the review!

KuroTenshiYuku – I know, eh? Lol, thanks for reviewing!

Phi ScarlaDraconia – Thanks, I'm sure you'll be a lot of help!

Ddd – Ah, there you are! Thanks for the review!

Mizu-Chan10 - holds arms up Whoa there! Yes, there will be a bit of Sasuke bashing, seeing as this Naruto does not take shit from him. And you guessed partly right. She is not totally indifferent, for there is major Naruto-bugging in this chapter, but the rest you got right! Good job, thanks for reading and reviewing!

Smirking Menace – I'm glad to know that you are enjoying my story! I hope you are satisfied with the length. Thanks for reviewing!

Harue Harlequin – Lol, yes, romance! blinks Shikaku? Oh yes, I was seriously thinking about it, and decided at what I am going to do… but you will have to find out! Yes, I'm that evil. Lol, thanks for reviewing!

Screensurfer – You know, I was thinking about that too, but I decided that Kimimaru will extremely loyal to Naruto, seeing as Orochimaru 'loves' her so much. I found, after watching the episode where Gaara and Kimimaru fight, and after much thinking on the subject, that Kimimaru is extremely dependent on Orochimaru, emotional wise. Naruto will be kind of like a younger sister to him. And something of that caliber will be happening, though she will be targeted by another group instead of followers of Orochimaru. Thanks for the suggestions and the review!

PyroD – Hehe, glad you like it so much. Out of all the stories I've read, I've only read a few where Naruto bonds with snakes to such an extent, and none at all where Naruto is female. And yes, yay for GaaNaru, the cutest couple out there!

Fgm – Whew! wipes brow you had me sweating for a moment there, I thought I had a flame! Thanks, I really appreciate the review!

* * *

.:'In too Deep':.

_Itty bitty Kitsune, looking all rough,  
Wishing is hopeless, tough, tough, tough.  
__Wait for me, little Kitsune, my fingers are sore,  
__Good thing is; I've only got a little more.

* * *

_

_She walked down the hallway, enjoying the rare free time she was given for being good. She felt a hiss in her ear, causing her to giggle, and pat her snake on his head, earning a pleased hiss. She continued to stroke him on the head, all the while wandering around the hallways of the mansion she was in. _

_Yes, she lived in a mansion, because her guardian was rich._

_She didn't know the exact reason he was rich, all she knew that he had a lot of money, and didn't spend all of it at once._

_She was even given small allowances for doing well in her lessons, or excelling faster than anticipated. She didn't have anywhere to spend it all, not knowing how much, exactly, she was given. She hadn't gotten to currency in her… less exciting lessons yet. She would soon, she knew, but not now._

_Deciding to head back to her room, she turned on her heal and headed back, giggling when the snake draped on her shoulders, and around her petite frame hissed in her ear._

"_Stop, Kurome, I'm going, I'm going, haha." She giggled again, patting his head. "I know you're hungry, so when we get back, I'll get the fattest rabbit we have and give it to you, 'kay?"_

_He hissed happily, nuzzling her face. That only made her giggle more, and picked up her pace for the obviously hungry snake._

_Her sensei came from around the corner, looking a bit disheveled, and irritated. His expression immediately changed from irritated to a small smile when he saw her, "Aren't you supposed to be at your lessons, Kitsune?" He asked, stopping to address her correctly._

_She shook her head, proclaiming, "Iie, he gave me the _whole_ day off, because… what did he say the reason was again? Oh yeah, some bumbling oaf doesn't know how to mind his own business… yeah. What's wrong, sensei?" She asked, cocking her head to the side in curiosity._

"_Nothing, Kitsune, I'm fine. Now, run along, I don't think he will be pleased with you wandering around today," he said, shooing her back to her room._

"_Bye, sensei!" She waved and ran back to her room, feeling Kurome tighten his hold on her to keep from falling off from all the movement._

_Slipping into her room, and closing the door right behind her, she took in the condition of her room._

_Clean. Sparkling clean._

_Didn't anyone know how to stay out of her room? She liked it when some of her clothes were on the floor, or when some of her stuff was laying around. She liked to have her room to suit her personality, but no. That stupid person always got into her room and cleaned it. She doesn't even know _who_ that person is, she just knows that he (or she, she thought briefly) cleans up her room every time she goes to her lesson, or something._

_Sighing softly, she gently unwrapped herself from Kurome's hold and set him on the floor. Making a 'stay' gesture to him, she left the room, taking the same route to the animal kennels. That was where he kept all the other animals that weren't snakes. Most of them were disfigured and whining pathetically, but, with obviously practiced ease, she ignored them and fetched a pure white bunny from the rabbit kennel._

_Holding it up, she judged if it was the biggest one out of the bunch. Deciding that it was, she placed the cover back on the kennel, and made her way back out of the animal kennels and back to her room. But before she got to the exit, a flash of silver was the only warning she got before she was knocked further into the room with a powerful blow. The scared rabbit in her arms scampered off, disappearing just as the silver… thing approached her._

_Sitting up, she put her hand on her head, moaning in pain. A low growl cut off her groans, and she shot her head up towards the sound._

_A silver wolf, staring down at her with eerie yellow eyes, and its lips bore back in a snarl, its teeth yellowed with age. It growled again before advancing, it's head low, eyeing her. Slowly, she sat up, making no threatening movements. She went to stand, but before she could manage, the wolf lunged at her. She uttered a yelp, and dove out of the way, making the animal crash into a couple of empty cages. It growled louder, and righted itself, lunging at her again with a snarl. A shriek escaped her throat as she dodged it again, rolling slightly on the floor and springing back onto her feet._

_Suddenly, as the wolf was about to pounce and undoubtedly end her life right then and there, it was tackled into a shelf by something long and black._

"_Kurome!" She shrieked, watching in sick fascination as her snake wrapped himself around the wolf and started to squeeze, while at the same time, sinking his fangs anywhere he could, injecting deadly poison into it's system._

_But the wolf wasn't focused on that. Its yellow eyes were set on her, and she began to shake slightly as it slowly, and painfully made it's way to her. She couldn't explain the weird feeling right then as her eyes met with the wolf's, only that she couldn't move. Not. One. Inch. Its like the gaze of the wolf paralyzed her with fear, but… she didn't feel afraid, not with Kurome protecting her._

_She cried out in pain as it bit her harshly on her left shoulder, and collapsed on the floor as the wolf finally died, freeing her from her paralyses. Just then, two figures entered the room and rushed immediately to her side. She heard voices, but she was too far away to make out what they were._

_Finally, the world went black.

* * *

_

_She cringed slightly as her shoulder smarted. It was still wrapped in bandages, although it had been a long time ago when the wolf bit her. Her sensei and guardian were baffled at why the thing bit her, it was well fed, very old, and it didn't move except to eat, or move around its cage to stretch its legs. And on top of that, wolves don't hunt for food unless they need it, or eat unless hungry._

_Her sensei had fed it a good amount not an hour earlier; it shouldn't have attacked her at all, if what she said was anything to go by. Even though she was hurt, they did not let up on her training, if anything, they upped it, announcing that if she could not take on an aged wolf, one that had been living far longer than most in the wild, and without much experience, then she wasn't being trained hard enough._

_Half of her absolutely loved the idea of extra training, of being wanted enough _to be_ trained. The other half was recoiling from the idea, seeing as she was so busy from the extra training, she no longer had as much free time as she did before, and therefore, much less time with her snake._

_But, she would do anything for her guardian._

_Even if it meant less time with the one that understood her the most._

_At first, the training was gruesome, higher expectations were placed upon her small shoulders, and she worked hard –too hard to meet them._

_But the praise she got –however rare- were making it all worthwhile._

_And she soon found, that the training was getting easier, that the expectations weren't nearly as hard to meet as she had originally thought they would. But, not having nearly enough time to ponder it, she hardly noticed that she was beyond any expectation, and being as busy as she was, never noticed the bright gleam in her guardian's eyes._

_And yet again, they upped her training, taking all her free time, leaving her sometimes to, literally, crawl to her room and slump in it, asleep in all but five seconds. And through this, her beloved snake would keep her warm on the nights when she would be too tired to pull the blankets over herself before passing out, comfort her when she couldn't sleep, there for her when she needed someone to talk to, basically, everything her guardian was not._

_And over time, the more they talked, the more they understood each other, the more she could understand him, right to the point where she could all but talk snake. They understood each other on such profound levels, that they could hold up a conversation without having to misunderstand each other at all, they could literally look at each other and know what they other was thinking._

_She never noticed how her guardian sometimes looked at her oddly when she had that rare free hour to spend with her snake, talking to him as if he was another human. She never noticed how her guardian would sometimes watch her as she interacted with the other snakes in his personal closet –which was a big closet, she remarked once- at how she made the snakes bend to her will without really trying at all._

_And after a while of the rigorous training, she was no longer so tired after the long hours of seemingly torturous regimes, she had more free time to spend with her only friend in the entire world, the more praise she got from her sensei._

_And even from her guardian, which was extremely rare in his case. He doesn't hand out praises on a daily basis, unlike her sensei, but when he felt she really deserved it._

_He was more of a critic than one who hands out praises, which in turn, drives her to work harder to receive them._

_And in the end, she never knew how much he was manipulating her to his desires, never really realized just how tightly wrapped she was around his finger.

* * *

_

_It never really bothered her when her shoulder would smart for some odd reason for another, but it was really weird, to her at least, that it would smart when there was particular danger for bodily harm._

_She actually never noticed the odd times it would smart; she only brushed off the annoying pain and continued with her lessons, or practice. It was only during her first lesson in weaponry when she realized just how special her bite was._

_Her sensei was lecturing her on the different uses on several weapons in the dojo, which was a lot. He explained that she would be taught how to wield many different weapons, all of which with both hands, and was expected to learn them quickly, and efficiently. He pulled a dagger looking object from a drawer in the corner of the room and explained to her that it was a kunai, and that she would be taught to use it first._

_She only nodded, and asked if she were to be learning how to use a particularly deadly –and cool looking- weapon that hung over the door of the dojo. He only replied with a maybe, and continued with the lesson, teaching her how to properly hold it, while lecturing her on its history, and how it was forged._

_At the end of the lesson, he dismissed her, telling her to practice in her room with it. Bowing to him, she made her way to the door and just as she was going to exit, her shoulder flared with pain and she stopped abruptly, hissing in pain._

_She heard a strangled gasp, and felt supposedly none existent winds blow past her face. Thinking their was another door nearby, she opened her eyes to see where the breeze came from, only to see something silver swing across the doorway in front of her. Uttering a small yelp, she fell back on her ass, staring up at the instrument that was suppose to play a part in her demise not a second earlier._

_The head of the huge battle ax swung back and forth innocently in front of the door she was supposed to leave through. She didn't even hear her sensei rush over to her, nor feel him poking and probing at her, searching for any injuries. She was still in a daze as he, carefully, escorted her to her room and left to report to her guardian._

_It wasn't until later that the worth of the bite on her shoulder finally dawned on her.

* * *

_

Entering the school with a bored look plastered on her face, Naruto casually dodged the multitude of fan boys that practically assaulted her on her arrival that morning. Catching sight of a head full of red hair, she bounded up to her biology partner.

"Ohayou, Gaara," she greeted, sitting next to him at the table he was sitting at. He looked at her a moment, before going back to what he was doing.

"I'll take that as a 'good morning to you too'," she began. "Kurome's all for the idea of us doing the report on him."

He looked at her again, but for longer, and returned to writing something down. She was unfazed at his, less-than-talkative mood, and was about to continue when she heard a familiar brunette calling her name.

"Kiba!" She yelled back, displaying her rather… healthy set of lungs. He happily bounded up to her, plopping himself next to her, "Hey, Naruto, I noticed you left rather quickly yesterday after school. I didn't even have time to see if you wanted to go to the arcade with me and the gang."

"Sorry, Kiba, I wanted to get back to Kurome, it was actually the longest time I spent away from him. Plus, I want stay as far away as possible from that prick Sasuke," she sneered.

"Yeah, okay, I can understand the Sasuke part fine, but who's Kurome? He like, a younger sibling or something?"

"Oh no, I don't think I could live with an annoyance such as a younger brother, or sister for that matter. They get into things they aren't supposed to and Kurome would probably murder him/her. Oh, and Kurome is my thirteen foot snake." She said casually, leaning against the table and fiddled with an earring.

Kiba balked at that for a moment before making an affirmative noise and changing the subject, "Oh yeah, I heard some chick slapped Sasuke yesterday. Any idea who? Every one is talking about it, but no one knows anything, and of course, he refuses to talk about it."

"I did," she said, absentmindedly cleaning under her fingernails. Man, they were dirty! "He touched my ass while trying to ask me out on a date. I don't stand for forward guys, so I slapped him, er… more like backhanded him. His face was priceless!" She laughed, standing up as the school bell rang.

Kiba stood too, laughing along with her, "Holy shit, I don't think any girl has ever slapped him before. They all tripped over themselves trying to even catch a glimpse of him."

"See ya, Gaara," she waved at him before continuing her conversation with Kiba.

Gaara briefly waved back before heading to his first class.

* * *

Naruto walked into her Art class, sitting next to Kiba, who was sitting next to Shikamaru and Chouji. To her right were Shino and Hinata. She greeted them before turning her attention on the teacher, who had just entered the classroom.

The teacher had silver, shoulder length hair, dark eyes, and wore casual clothes. At the moment, he had a peaceful look on his face. Naruto thought, for a moment, that he looked briefly familiar, but cast it aside.

"Alright class, settle down. It seems that today, we have two new students in our classroom. Would Uzumaki Naruto and Ookami Aoiro come up to the front please?"

Naruto stood, as did an unknown girl that was sitting near the back of the classroom.

"Now," the teacher started. "As you might not know, I am Mizuki-sensei, and I am your Art teacher. Please introduce yourselves and then take a seat."

He gave a small smile, and kept his eyes on Naruto as he sat down on the corner of his desk.

"Whatever, I'm Uzu-" Naruto started, but was cut off with a rather loud, "Hiya! I'm Ookami Aoiro! I like chocolate! _Chocolate_…" the new girl whispered the word creepily, while making weird gestures with her fingers, and then waved enthusiastically.

Naruto took a closer look at her, seeing that she had longish tinted blue hair, icy blue eyes, wore a baggy black colored cargo jeans, a black shirt with the phrase, 'I see dead people' written across her chest, a blue strip ran down her left sleeve, and wore what looked like an army hat.

She also had, from what she could see, a solid blue hoop earring at the top of the shell of her right ear, a watch and a beautiful chain bracelet with a wolf charm on her wrists, and had tanned skin. Natural, if she guessed right.

"Okay, Ookami-san, you may take a seat now," the teacher said kindly.

"Aww, buts I like being up here with me best buddy!" She exclaimed, jutting out her bottom lip and hanging her arm around Naruto's shoulder. Naruto grimaced, and pushed the invading arm off her small shoulders.

"Take a seat. Now." Mizuki said evenly.

Hanging her head, she walked back to her seat. Naruto brushed off some imaginary dirt off her shoulder before continuing, "As I was saying, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I hate most of you."

She resumed her seat without being told, and brought her attention back on her sensei, who just stood up with a thoughtful look on his face. After a moment, he smiled to the class and started his lesson.

Naruto couldn't help but notice that he looked at her more than the other students while teaching.

* * *

The bell rang, signaling the end of class. There was a sudden scraping of chairs, and shuffling that told Naruto, without even looking, that her classmates were gathering their things. She packed her stuff together quickly and was well on her way out of the door when someone called out her name.

"Uzumaki-san, can you stay a moment after class please? I would like to have a word with you."

Groaning silently, she inclined her head and plopped down in the nearest desk, waving away Kiba's worried glances.

Once the room emptied, Mizuki stood up, and walked towards the desk she was sitting in, placing himself neatly on the desk next to hers.

"Uzumaki-san, I would like to ask you if you could please try to be more civil to your classmates?"

"No," she replied bluntly.

He sighed and asked, "But don't you think your _guardian_ would want you to make allies?"

Naruto looked at him sharply, narrowing her eyes as she scanned his face. It was perfectly emotionless, even his eyes did not give way his meaning. Only his tone did… and his tone…

"Hai, my _guardian_ would want me to make _friends_," she amended gently, keeping her eyes narrowed at him. "My _guardian_ would want me to make _friends_, but it is hard sometimes. They are too self-centered and _weak_."

He nodded, now looking thoughtful. After a couple of moments, he suddenly put his hand on her shoulder, and said, "Well, can you at least try, Uzumaki-san?"

She nodded, feeling something slide into her bra strap before his hand pulled away and he stood, "Good, now, run along. We don't want you getting in trouble because of me."

"Hai, _sensei_," she replied and collected her stuff. As soon as she had everything, she walked out of the classroom, and to the girl's washroom.

Immediately going to the one at the end, she hung her stuff up on the hook that was situated on the door, locked it, and daintily sat on the toilet seat, the lid down so she wouldn't have to worry about accidentally falling in.

She pulled the item out of her bra strap, and found it to be a tightly folded piece of paper. She opened it, and read what was written there.

Naruto frowned as she finished reading the piece of paper, folding it back up carefully and shoving it into her pocket. She flushed the toilet for good measure, grabbed her bag, and exited the bathroom, heading for her next class.

So deep in thought concerning the letter, she did not see the blue-haired blur that took it upon itself to suddenly attach itself to her.

"This is me bestest friend! She's Uzumaki Naruto and she, too, likes chocolate! Right, Naru-chan?" The blur said all in one breathe, right against her ear, and exceptionally loud. 'Naru-chan' removed her arm from around her shoulder, and replied, "I'm not your friend, I am Naruto, and no, I do not like sweets. Please keep your limbs to yourself, lest I remove them."

Naruto then nodded at the teacher and scanned the room for anyone she knew. Spying a familiar head of red hair, she plopped down next to him, waving in greeting. Gaara nodded back to her, and then went back to what he was doing before. Ignoring all living organisms in the room that he considered to be not worthy of his time.

Just then, someone plopped into the seat next to her, and she was suddenly looking at her current bane of existence. Aoiro was smiling at her, eating small balls of what looked like chocolate.

"Why are you bothering me?" Naruto asked unkindly, getting irritated now.

She flashed a chocolate smile before replying, "'Cause it fun."

Rolling her eyes, Naruto faced the front, ready to get on with the day before anything else could go wrong.

"Okay, students, settle down now so I get on with the lesson," the teacher said, smiling slightly. "Okay, for the two new students, I am Kurenai-sensei, and I teach Math. For those of you who have textbooks, please take them out and turn them to page one thirty-four so we can start on rationalizing co-efficients. For those of you who do not have a textbook, please come up to my desk so I can assign you one."

Naruto got up and made her way to the front, very much aware of how closely Aoiro was watching her. What was up with that girl? She didn't let much things bother her, but she did know, for certain, that this girl was getting to her.

"Okay, your identification number is zero three M-two zero, this is to make sure that we receive our textbooks back, and whoever doesn't return theirs, will have to pay a fee to replace it," Kurenai told her, handing her a faded looking Math twenty textbook. Naruto nodded, and went back to her desk, placing the textbook on her binder. Aoiro sat down next to her again, but didn't bother her further, paying attention to the teacher.

* * *

Even though that class was only one period, Naruto found it to be too long. Not long after Kurenai finished with notes and gave the class an assignment to work on, Aoiro found many different ways to bug the hell out of her.

At first, she merely sat quietly, solving the questions on the assignment, as was Naruto. But then, out of nowhere, something was pelted at her head. Naruto's eyebrow twitched once, before she continued with her work. There was a second, then a third before Naruto caught the fourth one out of annoyance and glared at the source of said annoyance.

Aoiro merely gave a toothy smile before going back to work.

Naruto's eye twitched before she did the same.

Not five minutes after that, she felt a finger poke her in the ribs. She continued working, not wanting to indulge in some petty poking game with a girl she was genuinely hating right now. The same finger, if she guessed right, poked her in a different place, a couple inches lower than the previous spot. When she was poked the third time, she quickly caught the invading finger and bent it slightly, earning a small pained expression.

She let go, and went back to work, managing to finish ten questions before she felt the weird girl tugging on her hair. When that didn't get Naruto's attention, Aoiro tried something different. Using her nails, and all five of her fingers, she guided her hand near Naruto's shoulder, and grabbed it roughly, digging her nails in slightly.

When that didn't work, Aoiro poked the side of Naruto's face, and when that didn't work, went further, pinching her nose.

She started when Naruto abruptly rose from her desk and moved to the desk behind Gaara's. Everyone in the class suddenly looked back at what interrupted the quiet that was the classroom. They quickly turned back around when they found themselves on the receiving end of one scary glare.

Aoiro pouted for a bit before giving up for the moment and getting back to her work.

* * *

"I expect this assignment to be done for tomorrow, and if it's not, you will lose your homework mark, and have to do two assignments!" Kurenai yelled over the bell as the students packed their stuff and headed out the door.

Naruto fell into step with Gaara, doing her best to ignore all the stupid fan boys that continued to plague her, no matter where she went. Once they were out in the hallways, Naruto asked, "Hey Gaara, what class you have?"

He looked at her a moment before replying, "I have a spare, you?"

"Same! Do you have plans for lunch?"

"… no, I do not. Why?"

"Oh, just wondering if you wanted to- oof!" Naruto ran into someone and abruptly fell back on her ass. She cursed before getting back up, whacking away the hand that did not belong to Gaara, but to the person who ran into her.

"Watch it dipshit!" She hissed, glaring at someone who looked suspiciously like Sasuke, but older.

"My apologies, I did not mean to run into you…" The Sasuke look-alike trailed off, obviously waiting for her name.

"Apology not accepted, asswipe," she said, pushing him out of the way so she could get to her locker. She did not see the look of shock on the Sasuke look-alike's face, for she was too busy cursing under her breathe, and getting her things. Screw the rest of the day, she didn't feel like staying here for any longer.

"Look, calling people names is not going to help here. I am trying to apologize, and I would appreciate it if you were at least somewh-"

"No, _you_ look," Naruto whirled around, slinging her bag on her shoulder. "I've had a bad day, I do not want to talk to retards like you, and I would like to get home before I take my anger out on some _unfortunate_ person, unless you were willing. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way, Dipshit-san," she slammed her locker shut and walked away.

Gaara looked at the confused yet intrigued man before walking after Naruto, who was heading in the direction of his locker.

* * *

Itachi pondered what the hell just happened.

First, he unexpectedly ran into someone. Now, this, in itself, was rare. He was Uchiha Itachi. He did _not_ run into people; much less knock them back on their ass. In fact, he did not even _look_ at anyone, besides his acquaintances within the school.

When he found himself holding out his hand to help her up, which completely baffled him, he expected the girl –for that's what it was, a girl, blonde to be exact- to accept it, get up, play Mary Sue, get rejected, and be on her merry way.

So you can imagine his surprise when it is batted away roughly, and called a 'dipshit'. He found himself in the extraordinary position of shock, asking himself, "Did she just call me dipshit?"

And imagine his further shock when she did not play Mary Sue, did not swoon over him, did not bat her eyelashes, or attempt to reveal her rack, or try to press herself against him in hopes of getting his affection… or, for that matter, accept his damned apology.

After trying again, Itachi concluded that she was no ordinary girl, but he guessed that after getting a good look at her retreating figure.

Her fingernails were not manicured, her hair was not professionally done, she did not wear layers upon layers of make-up, she did not, thankfully, and curiously, wear revealing clothes, and she looked tomboyish.

Now, he was intrigued.

Who, in the nine layers of hell, was _that_?

* * *

Naruto leaned against a locker that was right next to Gaara's, and tried to ask again.

"As I was saying before I was cut off, would you like to come over to my house for spare and the lunch hour? I would like to get this project over and done with already."

Gaara spared her a glance before nodding and resumed packing his unneeded things within the locker.

"Great, I'm sure Kurome will love you. But one thing I have to worry about is how I'm going to protect you from my deranged guardian," Naruto placed her index finger on her chin while walking next to Gaara, who was watching her with some traces of amusement.

"Oh well, I'll worry about that when we get there," she said, and walked out of the school after signing out at the office.

She frowned, however, when she heard a wolf whistle behind her, and someone sliding their arm around her waist. Stopping and her eye ticking dangerously, she asked through gritted teeth, "Can I help you?"

The guy, who also looked like Sasuke, but with tamer hair, and porcelain features smiled an eerily fake smile before replying, "Why, yes you can, gorgeous. I was wondering if I can ask you something."

Removing his arm around her waist, she rolled her eyes and nodded, crossing her arms.

"I was just going to ask if you fell from the sky, 'cause it seems that Heaven is missing an angel," he smiled again.

Naruto stared at him, eyebrow twitching, "That was the worse pick up line I have ever heard, you are so sad, it isn't even funny," she deadpanned, and turned to go.

Not at all fazed, he trailed after her, easily keeping pace, "Well, I would like to know the name of my angel, who fell from the heavens, and into my arms," he said, cutting her off and wrapping his arms around her waist.

She heaved a sigh, and stomped on his foot, successfully making him let go of her. She then grabbed one of his arms, twisted it behind his back, kicked the back of his legs harshly, and shoved his face into the cement, lifting his arms into a painful position where he could not move without hurting something else.

"First of all, you need to work on your pick up lines, 'cause I feel like vomiting. Second, I'm not your 'angel' nor will I ever be your 'angel'. And third, the name is Uzumaki Naruto, don't forget it, cocksucker," she hissed venomously, and let him go. She turned without another word and left the grounds, Gaara in tow.

* * *

Sai stood up slowly; groaning slightly from the position the whirlwind put him in before leaving. Once he was up, he stared in the direction the blonde angel left in for several minutes, trying to digest the strange feelings that sprung up out of nowhere.

One of them, he realized, was excitement. Finally, a girl that was fiery, had a tongue as sharp as a dagger, and a temper to boot.

The second took a bit longer to recognize; rejection. He had never felt it before, for all girls swooned when he pulled out his lines.

And the third; awe. Not many girls new how to properly defend themselves, much less have the muscle capacity and the grace to quickly subdue unwanted company.

A grin found its way onto his face, and it refused to leave.

* * *

Finally arriving at her house, with some relief, Naruto walked up the drive and opened the door, placing her shoes neatly in the closet. She heard Gaara doing the same.

She entered the kitchen, seeing Tsunade at the stove, cooking something, and could faintly see the top of Jiraiya's head in the living room.

Naruto motioned to Gaara to follow her, and began to walk to her room. She did not stop when Tsunade addressed her, "Oh, Naru-chan. What are you doing home? You aren't skipping, are you?"

She did not even get a chance to answer –not that she was going to- when Jiraiya leapt out of the living room, yelling, "She better not be!"

Dancing around his arms, Naruto glared at him before continuing to her room.

"Who is this, Naru-chan?" Tsunade asked, looking genuinely interested.

"None of your damn business, Tsunade," Naruto looked back a moment before grabbing Gaara's arm and pulling him along. "I will not be going to school this afternoon, do not bother me."

And with that, her door closed with a slam.

Tsunade and Jiraiya looked at each other in exasperation.

* * *

**Okay! Sorry it took so long to get this out, was kind of busy during the holidays, and then my birthday being only a week after Christmas, I found myself enjoying the relaxation. That is, until I got my cold. Stupid cold! I curse all colds!**

**Anyway, some things to tell ya. The first thing being that I might be able to speed up my updates, depending on how big my homework load is when I go back to school. My mom is not going to be around often, so more time for me to be on. **

**Second thing is good news for you! I'm going to be making my chapters longer, like around ten or more pages long. I find it easier to write properly if I have big, long chapters like this.**

**And third, go to my profile, read what stories I'm offering to write next, and vote for said story. You have up to three choices, I would really like to see which story becomes the most popular! Vote, vote, VOTE!!**

For those of you who are anxiously awaiting the 'chatting/hacking' part of the story, I can assure you that it is coming soon, maybe in the next chapter. The contents in the note will be revealed next chapter, for sure, and we will meet the last person of the Harem! Couldn't really fit Neji into this chapter, it would seem a bit awkward, and I would portray Naruto as God-like in rejecting smexy looking guys. She will definitely take a liking to Neji, just a little spoiler for you!

About the OC I made, she will definitely be in future chapters. My best friend was visiting for a while, and when she saw that I was writing a story like this, asked if I could put a character like her in the fic as well. And well, the result is Ookami Aoiro! Or Blue Wolf in American. Note that this OC acts very much like my friend, so whatever I make her do in the fic, she most definitely does in real life.

And one more thing, I really do think that guys that pull out their pick up lines need to get a life. Those are just so sad, and they make a big fool out of themselves when they are rejected. I kind of put some of my character in Naruto with this chapter, hope you don't mind too much.

Oh! Tell me truthfully, do you think I need a beta? I've been wondering that for a while now.

Anyway, drop a review or two, I'd really appreciate it!

KitsuneyJenfner


	5. Living in the Shadows

**-****Stretches out sore muscles- Ahhhh, moving into a different house is so hard, especially when you only have three adults, one teenager, and two children to do so. Sorry it took me so long to write this, I was originally going to write and post this earlier, but like all plans, they get ruined before coming to fruitation. Now, I won't have computer 'til somewhere in February, and I don't think you'll want to wait that long to have this chapter!**

**So, without further adieu, here's the next installment of Techno Fox!**

Summary: In cyberspace, she is known as Kyuubi, the only hacker in the world who was able to hack into Area 51's top secret files, and not get caught until just before she completely withdrew from their servers. Many groups of dangerous people are desperately trying to find her real identity, but she wears many masks. Her new high school won't know what hit it.

Pairings: GaaNaru. Onesided SasuNaru, KibaNaru, ItaNaru, SaiNaru, NejiNaru.

Other pairings: ShikaTema, ChouIno, JiraTsun.

Future pairings: KibaHina, NejiTen, IbikiAnko, AsuKur.

Warning: This chapter is rated M for coarse language, content not suitable for younger audiences.

Disclaimer: If I don't say this, Kishimoto would sooo sue my ass. So, sadly, or unsadly, depending on the person, I don't own Naruto.

Notes: I do not know if some of the stuff in this chapter is actually fact. So, I'm happy that its fanfiction and not wikipedia.

Side Note: Nobody but Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Naruto knows who Kyuubi really is. That fact was not revealed during the investigation/interrogation when Orochimaru and Kabuto were imprisoned, and when Naruto was interrogated afterwards.

"I'm speaking here!" – talking

'I see dead people.' - thinking

I'm a monkey's aunt – narrating

_I don't care who you are – memories/flashbacks_

"_You_!" – emphasis on words/yelling

"This is so lame." – online chatting/information

Review Feedback:

Envygreedgreenthunder – Thanks, I love being 17!!!

Shadow danser – Lol, thanks, and I'm sure if you had fifty hands, I'd get that fifty thumbs up. Thank you!

DeathNoteMaker – Hahaha, okay, that was awesome. I laughed when I read this, thanks for the awesome review!

Smirking Menace – Lol, yeah, I didn't really mean to be so harsh to Itachi-kun, but my fingers have a mind of their own sometimes. It's frustrating, lol. Thanks for the review.

Harue Harlequin – Hehe, only the really hot guys actually fall for Naruto, but all the other unfortunate souls –cough cough- losers –cough cough- just have crushes that'll never even have a chance… yes, I'm that mean. But, as you can see from the future pairings, they all get themselves a girl, so no biggie, eh? Thanks for the review! ( and yes, she is going to be ending up with Gaara, it's inevitable :D)

Surfwizard – Thanks! Glad you like it!

* * *

.:'Living in the Shadows':.

_Itty bitty Kitsune, enjoying your treat?  
You better, girl, before you get beat, beat, beat.  
Almost there, my Kitsune, only a matter of time,  
Just remember this little thing; your all mine.  
__

* * *

_

_It is a curious thing when a child decides to do something that one would not expect. As it would be when the child does something that throws your whole perspective into whack, and you find yourself re-evaluating your perspective on said child. Everything that child threw him for a loop, and each time it did, he found himself reassessing his information, re-grouping everything with a confidence rarely seen until it is shattered once more as the child decides to throw the word 'impossible' out the window, lock it, and throw away the key without a backwards glance._

_Since finding that child in an alley with a trashcan lid in one hand, and what seemed to be food in the other, he hasn't been able to keep his hard earned perspective on the child for more than a week. At times, it was rather frustrating. How can a mere child, no older than four, destroy his judging skills with no less than a flick of her small fingers? At other times, it was unnerving at how intelligent those sapphire eyes were, at that age, and how thirsty she was for knowledge, for power. He swears, until the day he dies, that you will not be able to find a child quite like that one, one that perseveres with confidence that cannot be found anywhere, much less on a four year old child._

_The thing that unnerved him more was that this 'child', if that was what you could call her, was the spawn of the two he hated the most. Yes, he knows who the parents of the child were, as he was the one who ordered their deaths, but it just didn't seem possible with a retarded fool of a father, and a cockatoo for a mother to have such a gifted, and intelligent child. He didn't expect the girl to survive on the streets, he didn't expect himself to show a little mercy and take the child in, if only to see if she was worth keeping, he didn't expect himself becoming fond of someone, much less the child of the late Namikaze couple, he didn't expect, above all else, to hate the child just as much as loving her to pieces at how much she had wormed into his heart, and just refused to let go._

_Yet, that was the beauty of not expecting. He couldn't have _known_ what was happening. He couldn't have _known_ that the child did what she did, if unknowingly. He couldn't have _known_ that he would let her._

_Yet, he did._

_And that was what unnerved him the most._

_Was the fact that he let her, and didn't even know it._

_One thing he prided himself on was being sharp, being able to sense things like this without even having to try, expecting it, and rejecting it, for feelings of love and compassion were not worth the time to have, and he found that he was really short on time these days. He didn't have time for companionship, for love, for the feeling of being wanted, for he was never wanted. No one wanted him, ever since he was little. He was always pushed away, always teased constantly without reprieve, without help from those that should have cared, but didn't. It went on for ages like that, everyone pushing him away to look better, to fit in. In society, you can't fit in, no matter how hard you try! You may act normal, look normal, fit in normal, like the many pieces of the jigsaw puzzle, but like the lost piece of another puzzle, you will not fit in as much as you like._

_He realized this when he left high school, when he set out into the world to make a name for himself, an image that will make others respect him as he should be._

_Needless to say, it never worked._

_His only friends in high school, that actually made it worthwhile to go back and sit through boring, and worthless classes drifted away. The ones that he thought, truly understood him, and would stand by his side always, didn't bother writing to him, calling him, emailing him, talking to him, being friends with him… they eventually just left him behind as he struggled to place himself in a higher position, to keep up with their success in their respective fields._

_Seeing their backs walking away from him as they continued on made something snap, deep inside, and a dawning comprehension shined upon his mind._

_They finally left him behind._

_Were they friends?_

_No, never friends… just like all those other fools._

_They left him behind._

_Friendship…_

_Love…_

_Weak…_

_He was weak…_

_So very weak…_

_A rage, unlike anything he has ever felt, washed over him. How dare they do this to him?! Who was the one who was always there for them? Who was the one who made sure they had the answers for their work? Who was the one that paid attention in class and gave them the necessary notes so they wouldn't fail? Who practically worshipped the ground they walked on, including him?_

_Who…_

_Who…_

_Who…?_

_Him! Him! Him!_

_Who else would be desperate enough for friends, for companions in the lonely reality that is life? Who else would go through the trouble of making sure they passed their grades so that they'll stay friends? Who else nearly broke their back trying to keep up with their success when it should belong to _him.

_Him! Him! Him!_

_And what did he get for it? Heartbreak, guilt, regret, loneliness, hatred, anger, rage… what did he do in his past life that he get this?! He, of all people, deserves respect! Deserves power! Deserves more than those lowlifes idiots that he called friends! He deserved everything they got, have, will have, and will ever get!_

_He just stopped trying to keep up with those that used to be his friends as each and every one of his memories surfaced, and smacked him in the face. Why? Why did they get everything that should be his? Why does he have to suffer for them?_

_Why?_

_Why?_

_Why!?_

Why?!?

_Because he's weak! That's why! Weak, weak, weak! Weak, worthless, unwanted, unneeded, weak, weak, weak, weak!_

_Why was he so damn weak! Why was he cursed to get the shitty end of every deal in this fucking thing he called a life?!_

_And then it dawned on him._

_Emotions._

_Emotions made him weak! Love made him weak, friendship, hope, caring, adoration, admiration, everything made him weak!_

_Hating made him strong, oh yes. No one gave him the shitty end of the deal now! Everyone practically bowed to him now! _Everyone_ worshipped him now!_

Everyone respected him now!

_And who was to thank for this?_

_Him! Him! Him!_

_No body was going to stand in his way, no one!_

_And this little girl, this gifted, unique, completely naïve little girl was going to help him. No one was going to suspect a little innocent girl, no one was going to contradict an innocent little girl, no one was going to persecute an innocent little girl, _no one_ would _blame_ an innocent little girl!_

_And he never realized, never thought, never expected that, that little girl would wedge herself so far into his heart, that he wouldn't be able to go through the plans he set for her. He never realized how much she loved him. He never realized how much she adored him. Admired him. Worshipped him._

_He never realized until the day of his trial, when he was sentenced to life in prison, with no chance of parole or bail, how much she loved him until he felt her arms around his waist and the unmistakable feeling of tears staining his orange jumpsuit. He couldn't stop himself, wouldn't stop himself from bending over and whisper reassuring words in her ear that she probably didn't need._

_How proud he was when she slipped the key to his eventual escape in his waistband, how proud he was when she looked to him every time they tried to get her to say something, how completely under _his_ control she was. She was _his_. Not Jiraiya's, not Tsunade's, not Sarutobi's, not Kushina's, not Minato's, but _his

_And it felt good to know that they will never get what rightfully belongs to him, no matter how hard they try to take that away._

_He smiled as he inspected the non-metal nail file under the dull light.

* * *

_

Naruto slammed the door behind her, thoroughly pissed at how they acted. Why couldn't they get it through their head that whatever she did was none of their business and that they will never fill the hole they created three years ago. Never.

But she knew that it was only a matter of time until he was back, and she couldn't be more excited.

But she had to buy time for him to escape, had to keep up the charade of mourning. Charade. Yes, it was all a charade. She learned how to manipulate people to her wishes; it was one of the things she learned from him when she was really young.

And when she was really young, she practiced on her sensei frequently, often getting what she wanted. A pouting lip, big round eyes, a pinch to the wrist to make them watery, a nervous, and yet eager demeanor. It worked almost all the time. But like all good things, it wore off, and no longer worked on him, so she had to revert to other things to get what she wanted.

She could say that she was a master at the art, but that title belonged to him.

Shaking her head to clear her head some, she looked to Gaara, who was looking at her oddly. She offered a small smile, and made her way to the tank, motioning for him to follow her. Even though he was light on his feet, she could still hear him comply.

After he was close enough to the tank, she motioned for him to stop and lightly jumped up onto the table beside it. She crawled over the top of the tank and jumped into it. Gaara could no longer see her because of how dark it was.

He seriously wouldn't have imagined how big her room was, it was huge. She had enough room to move around, yet, the tank was easily the size of a kitchen and living room put together. Did they break out a portion of the wall to make sure the snake was comfortable?

While waiting for her, he checked out the rest of her room. She had a queen size bed with a blue hand-made blanket, and a couple of pillows. He didn't think she was the type to make her bed.

His wandering eyes moved on to the walls, seeing not the posters of favorite bands, not the pictures of friends and family, nothing that signified that a teenager lived in the room. All he saw was hand painted figures, familiar hand painted figures. He couldn't place where he saw them before. He moved on to her nightstand, which was neat, and tidy. She had many knick knacks, little figurines of snakes, and on her dresser, was what looked like a little shrine. He briefly wondered what the shrine was for, but shrugged it off.

He heard hissing behind him, so he turned around to see Naruto emerging from the humungous tank with something wrapped around her form. How was she able to carry that mammoth of a snake?

She smiled at him while carefully getting off the table with the snake nuzzling her neck and cheek. She rubbed him on the forehead, earning a pleased hiss before turning her attention back to Gaara and saying, "Gaara, this is Kurome. Kurome, this is Gaara."

Gaara stayed perfectly still as the snake reached out with ease to inspect him. This is what he found unnerving. The snake was inspecting him. _Inspecting him._ He knew snakes were anything but stupid, but he seriously didn't think it would do something like this.

It hissed after a good minute, and Naruto smiled excitedly, "He likes you, Gaara! Go ahead, pet him!"

Gaara eyed her for a moment, and then hesitantly reached out, softly touching the rubbery skin. Naruto laughed, taking a step forward, "You know… you're the first person that actually had the nerve to touch Kurome, much less stay around long enough to learn his name?"

"I wonder why," he replied, getting more confident, and stroking him on the head. Kurome hissed in pleasure, and happiness. Naruto laughed, and brought Kurome to the bed, sitting down on the edge.

"All the stuff I learned about Kurome is on my computer over there," she said, pointing to the corner of the room he had yet to look at. It was a laptop. She must have wireless connection or something, he thought. He nodded, and she motioned to it, giving him wordless permission to check it out, "It's at the bottom there, I practically have the whole thing done."

He nodded again, and brought it up, reading it with a bit of fascination. She did indeed have a good deal here, and if they were to hand it in, they'd surely get an A plus, "What are you missing out of here that is so important?" Gaara asked, looking at her.

"The simple fact that I wrote the whole thing and you didn't do your portion of the assignment yet," Naruto replied, busy with Kurome.

Gaara nodded again, and got his stuff out, getting to work. He watched how Naruto interacted with Kurome, and how Kurome reacted to certain things. He did this for three hours, chatting with Naruto, watching how the two would interact with each other, before writing it down, and repeating. When he finally put the pen down, he flexed his fingers. He hated writing.

"You got it done?" Naruto asked, walking over with Kurome draped over her shoulders and wrapped around her body. Kurome hissed, as if asking, 'Yeah, are you done yet?'

He nodded, "You have a printer?"

"Yeah, just hit the print button and I'll go get it."

He nodded before typing his portion of the work under her part on the Word Document and printing it out. Naruto went to get it, leaving with Kurome still draped over her shoulders. He wondered how her guardians stood having that snake around their charge.

When Naruto got back, and handed the assignment over to him, he put it in his binder, closed it, and put it back into his backpack before standing up.

"Now that we're done, what do we do now?" Naruto asked casually. Gaara shrugged before replying, "I don't know, but I have to be somewhere in half an hour."

Naruto nodded before leading him to the door, leaving Kurome on her bed, "I'll see you tomorrow at school then?"

Gaara nodded, managing a small smile before leaving. Naruto smiled back before making her way back to her room. She went straight to her computer, taking the note out of her pocket before re-reading it.

Kitsune:

You don't know me, but I know you. At this moment in time, I cannot meet with you, for my face is too well known, and I cannot risk getting caught talking with you, it will raise suspicion. That is something neither of us need at this time.

Please, meet an associate of mine behind the school at 10 sharp tonight. He will tell you what you need to know, and will be around for you when you need to him to be. I cannot tell you any more than this, for it is not safe on mere paper that can be intercepted at any time. There are eyes and ears everywhere.

Come alone, you have nothing to worry about. I will not harm my Master's protégé that is a promise.

Forever your servant,

Oni-Tora

Naruto crumpled the note after reading it a couple more times to memorize it, if only a little. She tossed it into her mouth, chewed a couple of times, before swallowing it with a gulp of water.

She logged into her MSN account, seeing some of her friends on, but none that she wanted to talk to. Suddenly, Shukaku logged on. Relatively excited, she click on him, and opened up a chat box.

Kyuubi no Kitsune says: You find what you were looking for?  
Shukaku no Tanuki says: Yes and no. Why?

Kyuubi no Kitsune says: Just wondering…

Shukaku no Tanuki says: …

Kyuubi no Kitsune says: Okay, okay, I want to know, so spill!

Shukaku no Tanuki says: Beg for it.

Kyuubi no Kyuubi says: You are so mean. Just spill!

Shukaku no Tanuki says: No, beg for it.

Kyuubi no Kitsune says: Glares Fine, please?

Shukaku no Tanuki says: That's not begging, but it'll do for now.

Kyuubi no Kitsune says: Rolls eyes

Shukaku no Tanuki says: Smirks

Shukaku no Tanuki says: I found out that someone is looking for us, but I couldn't find out who.

Kyuubi no Kitsune says: Someone is looking for us? Where did you find this out?

Shukaku no Tanuki says: Yeah, I found out by accident though. Kind of glad I did, we have to alert the others.

Kyuubi no Kitsune says: Oh, I'll poke around, see what I can find. You try to contact any other known hackers on the web, can't have their information getting into the wrong hands.

Shukaku no Tanuki says: Yeah, I also found another hacker, a new one, by the looks of it. But this one is good, almost as good as you.

Kyuubi no Kitsune: Pssh, really? Hm, interesting. Nobody has come close to me, ever. I'm the best.

Shukaku no Tanuki says: Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Anyway, have to go. Tell me if you found anything at all, and try to contact this new hacker. I won't be able to with my level.

Kyuubi no Kitsune says: Yeah, okay. You contact the other known hackers if you can, and tell them what you found out. Ask them if they have any information regarding that. Tell me if you can't find the higher ones.

Shukaku no Tanuki says: Of course, talk to you later.

Kyuubi no Kitsune says: Yeah, take care.

Naruto leaned back in her chair, processing what she learned. So, another group was looking for them… didn't sound too good. She'd have to check things out, poke around.

She sat up, stretched her arms over her head, and cracked her knuckles.

"Time to get to work!"

* * *

At nine thirty, Naruto slipped out of the house and made her way to the school. She was curious. 

Going around to the back, she found herself a nice, dark corner that she stood in as she waited for whoever was coming to give her information. At nine fifty-five, she heard footsteps approaching, and then stop near the shed, if she heard correctly.

Emerging from the corner, she walked over to the shed, finding a white haired man, about twenty years of age standing there. He looked at her, face expressionless before addressing her, "Kitsune?"

"That's my name, don't wear it out."

He looked relieved for a second, "I am Kimimaru, Kitsune-sama, it is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Finally?"

"Hai, we heard a lot about you from my Master, but we were not allowed to see you. He says that we are to listen and respect you as if you were him."

Naruto frowned, and nodded, "Naruhodo. This 'Oni-Tora' says that you have information for me."

"Hai, any and all of Master's servants are under your control; they will serve as if you were him. Master will soon be out of jail, it is taking him longer than he originally thought. Until he escapes, we are yours to command."

Naruto thought for a moment, "Anything else?"

"Iie, nothing of importance anyway," Kimimaru replied, shifting on his feet.

"Okay, among you, do you have anyone that is efficient in computers, or recon?"

"Hai, Karin's team is specially made for that thing, what is your command?"

Naruto waved off the formal, and respectful talk, "Please, Kimimaru, don't be so formal. I hate that."

Kimimaru looked at her oddly for a moment, "My apologies."

Naruto sighed before continuing, "Get that team together, and tell them to poke around for any information about 'Akatsuki', a group looking for hackers over the net. I need information on them, and soon."

Kimimaru bowed slightly, "Hai, Kitsune-sama."

"Please, just Naruto," Naruto sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"Naruto-sama," Kimimaru amended.

"Just Naruto! That's an order!" Naruto snapped.

Kimimaru looked taken aback before nodding, "My apologies, Naruto."

"Good," she nodded, taking out a pen from her pocket, how it got there, she'll never know. "Here is my cell number, call me when you have any information on the group. If you can't get a hold of me, come find me, I shouldn't be hard to find," she said while grabbing his wrist and writing her number on his arm.

"I expect an update at least once a week on how it's going. Call me if you need anything else, okay?"

"Hai, Naruto-s-" he coughed politely. "Naruto."

She beamed, and nodded. She waved goodbye before leaving with a full head.

* * *

During the next few weeks, Naruto divulged herself into cyberspace, trying to find out anything about the new group that Shukaku stumbled upon. She found very little information, only the name of the group; Akatsuki, how many members of the group there were; ten, and an outline of their purpose; to find the (now) nine hackers of cyberspace. These hackers were not your run-of-the-mill hackers, these were the elite. How they were going to find them, Naruto had no clue, but she knew that she was the top of the list. Kyuubi was the highest, the best. She has valuable information on Area Fifty-One, if they were even after that, and she was certain she could hack into other top secret places if she applied herself. 

This is what made her edgy, these 'Akatsuki' were certain to be looking for her the most. She was worried for Shukaku, he was the weakest of the nine. She hoped that he knew how to stay low and out of radar.

Beside emerging herself in cyberspace, she spent a lot of time with Gaara, Kiba, Hinata, Shikamaru, Shino, and Chouji at the arcade, or in the mall, doing practically nothing. Aoiro sometimes joined them, annoying the hell out of Naruto. But, she admitted to herself while in her room with Kurome, that Aoiro's company wasn't so bad. Even though she's been having the most fun she's had in ages, she could have sworn someone was following her during those times.

Kimimaru did update her, twice a week, on how things were going. Team Hebi, as they were called, could find very little on the group, nothing that she, herself, already knew. She was starting to get a tad frustrated. She couldn't hack their systems. If she had the time to at least try harder, she might be able to break through, but she just didn't have that time, nor peace. Tsunade and Jiraiya were getting more and more annoying, they just wouldn't leave her alone, and Sasuke would not take no as an answer.

Everyday, he's been trying to get her to go on a date with him. And everyday, she says no. Sometimes when she repeated her answer to him, Kiba would get all protective and tell him off, sometimes getting violent. And each time they did, she was the one pulling them away from each other. That, too, was getting frustrating.

Sometimes she caught Kiba staring at her, it was a bit unnerving. He was something like her best friend, she hoped he didn't try to wreck it by doing something stupid… she couldn't depend on him to not do something stupid.

Her suspicions of Kiba having something of a crush on her were proven true when he asked her out while they were in the mall together.

"Gomen, Kiba, I'm not interested."

The heartbroken expression on his face disappeared when she said casually, "But I'm sure Hinata is interesting in something like that, with how she looks at you when you aren't looking."

That seemed to perk him up. A couple of days later, Kiba and Hinata were seen walking onto the school grounds, hand in hand. Naruto congratulated them, giving Kiba a pat on the back, and Hinata a hug. Later, Kiba thanked her, and apologized, but Naruto would have nothing of it.

"Don't apologize, I'm just not interested. It's not your fault."

Her and Gaara spent more time together, getting to know one another, their likes, dislikes, etcetera. Naruto admitted that it was nice talking to Gaara. He wasn't baised like other people were, and didn't care what people thought of him. That's what she liked about him the most. He was his own person. Now, if only there were more people like that, it would actually make life better.

* * *

One Saturday, Naruto and Hinata were walking in the mall together, chatting about various things when someone bumped into Naruto. Naruto dismissed it, seeing as the mall was crowded. 

"Excuse me?"

"So I said to him, 'okay, that's weird', and he said-"

"_Excuse _me?"

"-'Of course it's weird! It's supposed to be, genius!' and I said-"

"_Excuse me_."

Naruto whirled around, cutting Hinata off as someone tapped her on the shoulder. She came eye-to-nose with someone. Backing up a bit, she got a better look at the person. He had long, brown hair that was pulled back, lilac colored eyes, pale skin, and was dressed in casual jeans, and black t-shirt. He was holding a bag out for her.

"You dropped this," he said, smiling slightly.

Naruto eyed him a moment before grabbing her bag, which had her newly bought snake ornament, "Arigatou."

She heard Hinata utter a tiny _eep_ beside her, and suddenly felt hot air blowing on her back. She turned slightly to try to see what was wrong, but Hinata moved with her, not allowing herself to be seen. Naruto shrugged before turning back to the guy before her.

"It was my pleasure, name's Hyuuga Neji, you are?"

'So that's what's bugging her, she doesn't like her cousin very much,' Naruto thought before answering, "Uzumaki Naruto."

"Pleasure to meet you, Naruto," he said, smiling.

"And you, Neji," she replied, smiling back.

"Care to join me for lunch, my treat?"

She shook her head, "Gomen, but I have other plans at the moment."

He nodded, "I understand, hopefully I'll see you around."

"If you're a mall rat, it's a possibility," she laughed.

Neji joined in, and waved goodbye, leaving the way he came. Naruto looked over her shoulder at her cowering friend, "What's the matter, Hinata? He seems like a nice guy."

"He d-doesn't like m-me very much," Hinata stuttered meekly. Naruto sighed, she just got her to stop with the stuttering.

"I'll get the details later, let's just enjoy ourselves," Naruto hung an arm over her best friend's shoulders, and smiled reassuringly.

Hinata nodded, smiling back before they headed towards the arcade.

* * *

Kyuubi no Kitsune says: How many people did you get a hold of?

Shukaku no Tanuki says: Not many, only four. The Nibi, Sanbi, Yonbi, and the Gobi. The others are too hard to get to.

Shukaku no Tanuki says: You find any information on the group?

Kyuubi no Kitsune says: Only a little bit.

Kyuubi no Kitsune says: The group's name is Akatsuki, there is ten members, and they are trying to get all nine hackers that are on the net. The reason is still unknown, I can't find the time and peace to even try to break through their firewalls.

Shukaku no Tanuki says: …

Shukaku no Tanuki says: That is enough for worry. I'll try to get the Gobi to try to contact the higher ones, except Hatsu. That one's for you.

Kyuubi no Kitsune says: I'll try, but I don't know when. I should just drop out of this school, Kami knows I'm skilled enough to get me a good job.

Shukaku no Tanuki says: You do that, and your cover is as good as blown. Just stay low.

Kyuubi no Kitsune says: Yes, Kaa-chan.

Shukaku no Tanuki says: Haha, very funny.

Kyuubi no Kitsune says: Lol.

Shukaku no Tanuki says: Have to go, keep looking.

Kyuubi no Kitsune says: 'Kay, talk to you later.

Shukaku no Tanuki says: Yeah, bye.

Naruto sighed as she logged out, and shut down her computer. Kurome hissed from her bed, and Naruto nodded. She got up, slipped into some night clothes and climbed into bed, settling down immediately and falling asleep.

* * *

**Okay, that didn't take as long as I originally thought, oh well. Thanks for reading and being patient with my less-than-appreciating update time and quality of the chapter. Not sure if those are the right names for the numbers, or whatever, I can't seem to get a hold of my translator. –shrugs- If any of them are wrong, please tell me so I can fix them.**

**Sorry to my friend, I just didn't want to fit you in this chapter, or else make it longer and more awkward. You'll definitely go into the next chapter, and I'll do some of the little scenarios we've been talking about!**

Okay, the memory above, if you haven't guessed, is about Orochimaru. I just thought a little change in perspective was needed, and refreshing.

Maybe some hacking next chapter, I'm not sure, but the chances are high. Thanks for reading, and make sure to drop a review! I don't mind cleaning up after you, hehe.

KitsuneyJenfner


	6. Fat Lip

Alright, here's the next chapter, and my apologies for taking so long

**Alright, here's the next chapter, and my apologies for taking so long! Blue, you should be happy now, man you're a pain sometimes, lol.**

Summary: In cyberspace, she is known as Kyuubi, the only hacker in the world who was able to hack into Area 51's top secret files, and not get caught until just before she completely withdrew from their servers. Many groups of dangerous people are desperately trying to find her real identity, but she wears many masks. Her new high school won't know what hit it.

Pairings: GaaNaru. Onesided SasuNaru, KibaNaru, ItaNaru, SaiNaru, NejiNaru.

Other pairings: ShikaTema, ChouIno, JiraTsun.

Future pairings: KibaHina, NejiTen, IbikiAnko, AsuKur.

Warning: This chapter is rated M for coarse language, content not suitable for younger audiences.

Disclaimer: If I don't say this, Kishimoto would sooo sue my ass. So, sadly, or unsadly, depending on the person, I don't own Naruto.

Notes: I do not know if some of the stuff in this chapter is actually fact. So, I'm happy that its fanfiction and not wikipedia.

Side Note: Nobody but Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Naruto knows who Kyuubi really is. That fact was not revealed during the investigation/interrogation when Orochimaru and Kabuto were imprisoned, and when Naruto was interrogated afterwards.

Side Note2: Aoiro is a real person, just has a different name. She takes on the personality of my best friend, who requested I integrate her character into the story as one of the hackers. Which hacker, you'll soon find out.

"I'm speaking here!" – talking

'I see dead people.' - thinking

I'm a monkey's aunt – narrating

_I don't care who you are – memories/flashbacks_

"_You_!" – emphasis on words/yelling

"This is so lame." – online chatting/information

Review Feedback:

FallenAngelsFeelNoLove – Wow, I'm glad to know you like it so much. Thanks for the review!

Namikaze Hatake – Wow, thanks for the support there. And yes, I will be going more in depth sometime in the next few chapters. I do like those kinds of stories too, I look for them often. I don't like Sasuke all that much, I think he's an arrogant prick that needs someone to pull out the pole in his ass before it gets in to deep and is no longer able to BE pulled out. Sorry I didn't update faster, writing the chapter at school has some benefits and some losses.

Dull spork – the flashbacks, basically, are to show you some of her earliest and most prominent memories of when she was being raised by Orochimaru and Kabuto. They hold some value, you'll see. Just have some patience, and stick with me in this, I love all my readers!

xXxLuna-the-ChosenxXx – I'm glad I was able to grab your attention like that. I appreciate your review!

Hentai18ancilla – You should pity her, but not now anyway. You have to find out why when it comes though. I have plans for this fic… thanks for the review!

Mou'Ikka – Wow, I really didn't expect that kind of response to his past (which I made up by the way, I still don't know the real story behind his defection when he was still in Konoha, only parts of it). But yeah, though I'm not trying to make Tsunade and Jiraiya look bad, you'll have to see what happened between the three later.

HeyBabySoSad – Ah, but you see, my dear reader, that they DO fit in with the chapter. 'Look underneath the underneath' as one of my favorite scarecrows often says, and it applies to the flashbacks. Thanks for the review!

Smirking Menace – No, not this chapter. There will be in the future sometime though! As for that, it'll probably happen in the next chapter if I ever get around to writing it, lol. Thanks for the review.

Icegoddess52 – Yes, it should prove interesting to write, but he won't get out for another two chapters at least… oops, was that a spoiler? Silly me.

Harue Harlequin – Lol, you can call it that, if you want, and then sue whoever tried to use it without your permission, lol. Thanks for the review!

Jane – Thanks, but I think I'll keep it like how I have it for a while. Just until a certain event, and maybe I'll fix it. But thank you anyway!

* * *

.:'Fat Lip':.

_Itty bitty Kitsune, simply too weak,  
You are too pathetic, meek, meek, meek,  
I trained you, my kitsune, to fight the very best,  
Not to lose to pathetic little pests._

* * *

The next day, Naruto was up bright and early, a very unusual thing for her, who usually wakes up around eight-thirty in the morning, not at six-thirty. But she was unable to fall back asleep, so she got out of bed and padded to her computer, turning it on before leaving for the kitchen.

She quickly made herself a bowl of her favorite cereal, grabbed an apple, and headed back to her room, closing the door just as the door to her guardians' room opened.

Good, she didn't want to see them this morning.

She sat down at her laptop, quickly logging onto her account while she polished off the cereal and started on her apple. After it was done loading, she brought up MSN Messenger and logged on. She finished her apple just as it connected, and threw it into the garbage can without even looking, wiping her hands on her pajama pants. Seeing no one on, she got up and left the room, going to the back door. She walked out into the crisp air, and straight to the cage at the back of the yard that held some rabbits she caught herself some time ago.

There were only two of them left in there, and made a mental note to get more soon. She couldn't get store bought ones, for they were way too expensive, so she set up traps in the nearby forest to get Kurome's future meals.

She lifted the top of the cage they were in, seeing their food bowl was almost empty and the hay needed changing. She quickly grabbed one before it could get away, and went up to the back of Kurome's cage, which was sticking out the back of the house a bit. He needed a lot of room, so they got the biggest cage they could get and knocked out the back wall of her room to make sure it fit. Now, if he wanted to, he could sun bathe, but he could not get out the top, for there was an iron-steel top keeping him in.

She nimbly climbed the ladder situated beside the cage, and opened the hatch at the top, specifically for this purpose. She carefully jumped in, and set the now frightened rabbit on the ground and watched it cautiously scamper off. She jumped up, her hands clearing the edge and pulled herself up. She went back to the cage and grabbed the last one before repeating.

Once both of them were inside the cage, Naruto quickly cleaned out the now empty cage, and set more hay on the bottom, along with refilling the water and food dish. Now that that was done, she needn't worry about it for a while. She set a small blue tarp on top of the cage, and went back inside.

Ignoring the greetings coming from the living room and kitchen respectively, she made her way back to her room. She had just entered it when Kurome disappeared into his cage to feed. She smiled, calling out a good morning to him, receiving a hiss in return. She sat down in front of her laptop again, still seeing no difference than before, and logged out.

Bringing up her illegal hacking program she managed to keep from her last guardian, how she managed it, she didn't know, and set to work. The only sounds coming from the room was frantic typing, and the occasional thump.

_Please, type in your command…  
_Find; Akatsuki  
_Please wait while we process your command…_

_Akatsuki; dawn, daybreak, in the event of_

_Akatsuki; (1945) a secret organization that vied to take over the government after World War II. Reason; unknown. Involved; unknown. Members; unknown. Numbers; ten._

_Akatsuki; (1717) a small group of villagers that plot to overthrow the King of Britain. Leader was said to be foreign. Reason; tyrannical king, over priced foods, high taxes, (see more). Involved; unknown. Members; unknown. Numbers; ten._

_Akatsuki; (1568) very secretive group under the command of the Japanese Emperor, Oda Nabunaga, and often used to get rid of wayward nobles quietly. Reason; to keep grip on Japanese empire. Involved; Emperor Nobunaga. Members; unknown. Numbers; ten._

_(not what you are looking for?)_

Naruto sat back, frown marring her face. How come none of this was on the internet? Google never failed her before. Maybe it was hushed up nicely, or maybe she wasn't looking hard enough?

She went over the information again, seeing a definite pattern. In each of the groups, there were ten members, but none of them were known, and they were all formed as assassins. But what was this, modern aged, Akatsuki going after? Why was it formed? Why did they choose the name Akatsuki? She didn't think it was coincidence that they did.

_Please, type in your command…_

Find; elite computer hackers

_Please wait while we process your command…_

_Hacker; One who uses programming skills to gain illegal access to a computer network or file._

_Computer; a device that computes, especially a programmable electronic machine that performs high-speed mathematical or logical operations or that assembles, stores, correlates, or otherwise processes information._

_Elite; the best or most skilled members of a group._

_(other definitions)_

_Elite computer hackers; there are currently nine elite computer hackers known in cyberspace. They range from one to nine, weakest to strongest, and each resemble animals. The first, Ichibi no Tanuki, and the ninth, Kyuubi no Kitsune._

_Ichibi no Tanuki; nothing known._

_Kyuubi no Kitsune; known to have hacked into Area 51's top secret files concerning research. Known to be the most dangerous, and prone to reckless hacking. The best of the best._

_(not what you are looking for?)_

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. Shukaku is safe, for now. If her program can't pick anything up about him, then no one can. Well, if they tried to hack him, but that won't happen anytime soon. He may be the weakest of them all, but he isn't a pushover. She leaned back into her chair, balancing on the back legs. She sat there, pondering, and didn't even noticed when Kurome slithered around her chair, around her body, and head resting snugly in the curve of her neck. She just stroked him absently. Not that he was complaining, of course.

After a bit, he hissed in her ear, snapping her out of her reverie, "Wha'? Huh? Oh, Kurome, you startled me."

Another hiss.

"Oh, it's nothing, just thinking on how I can get more information… I just can't seem to think right now."

A longer hiss.

"Nothing is wrong with me, Kurome, so don't worry. My mind is just too clouded with worry over these hackers. They are making me nervous now. I can't find anything on them! And I'm the best of the be-"

A disappointed hiss.

"Ah, um… yeah, sorry 'bout that. I try not to let it get to my head. It _is_ the truth you know!"

An agreeing hiss.

"I knew you knew, because I just know these things, like you know some things, and because of that, I knew you knew before you even knew it!"

Silence.

A pout, "Fine, fine, I'm getting back to work now. Sheesh, for a snake, you sure are a work-a-holic!"

A series of hisses.

"Stop laughing at me!"

The hisses don't stop.

"So mean."

* * *

Gaara walked up the drive of Naruto's house, backpack slung carelessly over his left shoulder. Behind him, Hinata, Kiba, Aoiro, and Chouji looked around in interest. They had never been in this part of town before, and it all looked different from where they live. Shino, on the other hand, didn't seem affected at all by the change in scenery, and followed the nonchalant Gaara up the drive to the door.

Gaara half turned to the distracted four, "Come on, I'm not going to wait for you once we enter the house."

They frowned briefly at that, what did he mean?

He ignored their confusion, and knocked on the door. The wait was brief, and not two minutes later, the door opened to reveal a honey-blonde haired woman with big assets.

"Tsunade-sama? What are you doing here?" Kiba blurted out carelessly, not connecting the dots right in front of him.

She crossed her arms, irritated, "I would have thought, since you are here for Naruto, that you would connect the dots and come to the obvious conclusion that I also live here. But I guess your inability to solve simple Math problems has led to your inability to connect said dots."

"… huh?" Was all he said, confusion growing. He had a massive frown on his face.

Shikamaru sighed, "She means that she lives here as well, probably as Naruto's guardian. Am I correct, Tsunade-sama?"

"Yes, you are Shikamaru. At least someone here knows how to use their brain," she glared at the sheepish Kiba. "She's in her room, Gaara knows where it is."

With that, she left the door open for them and disappeared into the house. Gaara followed, everone else following him.

"Dude, you've been here before?" Kiba asked, looking around the living room for a brief minute, finding nothing interesting. The football posters on the walls were of the teams he really didn't like at all. Typical for an adult to like the football teams that sucked.

"Yes, we've often came here to complete our homework, and hang out."

"Oh," was all he said in return.

Gaara reached up to knock when he heard a barely muffled, and pouty, "So mean," come from the room. He smirked and knocked, taking a step back. He looked to the group behind him and wondered if he should tell them about the snake. Kiba knows, he was sure, for he heard Naruto tell him about Kurome, but he wasn't sure if she told the rest of them.

"Hold on a sec'!" Came the muffled reply, and a, "Kurome, get off for now, I'll be right back!" Just barely heard.

"Who is she talking to in there? I wasn't aware she had a boyfriend," Kiba asked, frowning.

"She doesn't."

"How do you know, Gaara?" Kiba asked, suspicious.

"You'll see."

Now he was even more suspicious, unknowing that another four more were in the same shoes as him.

The door opened, revealing Naruto dressed in some casual black pajama pants decorated with ramen cups and chopsticks, and an orange tank-top that said, "Got Ramen?" in noodle letters with a cartoon chibi of the brand logo eating a giant bowl of ramen just underneath.

"Hey guys!" She exclaimed, and then added upon seeing Hinata, "And girls, hehe. What's up?"

She went to let them in when Aoiro glomped her, knocking her onto the floor, "Hey Naru-chan! I didn't know the Hokage was your guardian. Why didn't you tell us?"

"Maybe because I don't want anyone to know? Now get off, you're bony."

"I'm not bony!" She retorted hotly, but got off nonetheless, and sat on Naruto's huge bed.

"Whoa, sweet room! What's with the giant aquarium?" Kiba asked, walking up to it and peering in.

"I wouldn't do that i-if I were you, Kiba-kun," Hinata warned in a low tone.

"Why?"

"Kiba, just shut up and do what you are told, for once," Shikamaru grounded out, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, leave him alone, you two. Let him learn," Naruto said cheerfully, grinning evilly.

"Learn what, exactly?" Kiba turned around, grimacing at having to learn something on a weekend, Sunday at that.

"You'll see," Gaara repeated.

"Kami-sama, Gaara! You're just creepy when you act like that!" Kiba uttered, not liking where the situation is going.

"I'd have to agree with Kiba, I am also curious to see what the big deal is with the aquarium," Shino intoned, earning a disappointed look from Kiba when he didn't agree with his creepy comment about Gaara. Geez, did he not deserve some support from his friends?

"Ya, what Shino said. I wanna see what's in the aquarium too! Do you have any sharks?" Aoiro chirped, excited.

"No, I don't like fish. I'll call him out though. I'd like you to meet my first and most treasured friend," Naruto muttered, and then called out, "Kurome!"

Kiba looked around expectantly, so did Shikamaru and Chouji. There weren't many hiding places a guy could hide in, not including the aquarium, and Kiba briefly wondered why the guy would want to hide in a tank full of water anyway? Shino was still, though relaxed and casually leaning against the wall with his right leg straight out, and his left leg bent at the knee, he arms crossed over his chest. He, too, was looking for anything unusual… well, for Naruto anyway, but was not as open about it as the others were. He couldn't see Aoiro, but he knew that she was just as curious as he.

Shikamaru figured that Gaara and Hinata knew something they didn't about this 'friend' of Naruto's. It was just as well, anyway, seeing as Hinata and Gaara were the only ones out of the group that actually came to the blonde's house regularly, and Hinata was practically glued to her hip at times.

"Well, where is h- aiiieeeee!" he squealed, jumping away from the tank, only to trip on his untied shoelaces.

Shikamaru's and Chouji's eyes were wide open, staring with open mouths at the giant black snake that was slithering towards Naruto. Shino's stoic expression dropped in mild shock… well, it looked like mild shock to Shikamaru, but Shikamaru knew that barely anything could break Shino's self-control. It looked mild to others, but to him, he knew that Shino was just as shocked as he was. Kiba looked absolutely terrified, whimpering pathetically as the rest of the snake glided over him. He looked like he wet himself, actually.

"Oh my _God_!" Naruto heaved, face red from laughing so hard. She was literally rolling of the floor, holding her stomach tightly as the humor at the situation forced itself out of her lungs. "_You should have seen your faces_!"

"Itai!" Aoiro uttered, having fallen off the bed in shock, but then, out of seemingly nowhere, yelled out, "_Sweet!_" and started laughing just as hard

Hinata was giggling uncontrollably, and Gaara was chuckling.

Yes, Gaara was actually chuckling.

Shikamaru's lips quirked and he started chuckling, it escalading into laughter at the entire situation. Chouji wasn't far behind, and Shino was giving an amused smile at the whole thing.

Everyone but Kiba was laughing at the situation, but of course, Kiba was part of the situation and he himself thought that it _wasn't funny at all_. The snake scared the _shit_ out of him! Not literally of course, Inuzuka's were housebroken before they were one.

After a few minutes, Naruto was still laughing, but it was slowly subsiding. She took a few deep breathes, stealing a sip from her cup, and sat back down on her chair. Her face was still red, but it was turning back to its normal natural tan.

"I'm sorry, Kiba, but it was too irresistible not to do. You were the unfortunate victim here, but if you learned to keep your nose out of things, you wouldn't have found out about Kurome like that," she thought a moment. "In fact, I do believe remembering telling you about Kurome, weeks ago actually. I thought dogs had good memory?"

"Oh shut up," he pouted, picking himself up off the floor and sitting on the corner of her bed, farthest away from her and the snake.

"Aw, Kiba, don't act that way. It's payback for all the times you tried to prank me… not that any of them got me. You tried at least." Naruto tried to cheer him up, but it didn't work. She huffed and said, "Well, fine then. Be that way, at least they liked my little prank.

"Anyway, this here, is Kurome, my Tenfuuin snake. I got him when I was about five or six, I can't quite remember. He was only five feet long then. It was really cute when he threatened my guardian with his little five inch fangs when I showed him to them." Her hands were absently petting Kurome's body as he slithered up and around her, settling on her shoulders. The rest of his body was slowly wrapping around her torso and left leg.

"How can you carry that thing?" Kiba asked grumpily, but a bit awed.

"He's not a thing!" She snapped harshly, glaring at him. Kiba cowered, "Kurome is just as human as the rest of us, he just has different a different shape, and ways of living. That's all. If you think differently, then just get out. I don't want you, and your ideals on how animals are lower than dirt, 'cause I just won't hear it. Understand?"

Kiba nodded almost fearfully, "I didn't mean it that way, Naruto, I have like, seven dogs, remember? I wouldn't be… erm, specist towards Kurome just 'cause he's a snake. I was just wondering how on earth you are able to carry all that weight on such small shoulders?"

Naruto relaxed a bit, but was still tense, watching everyone in her room. Aoiro broke the silence by saying, "Well? Spit it out, Naru-chan! Kiba-yarou apologized for his little slip-up anyway, and that isn't any reason to keep the answer from us!"

Shikamaru, Chouji, and Shino nodded, Kiba following after glaring at Aoiro, who pointedly ignored his presence.

Naruto smiled at the scene, "If any of you bothered to listen to Gaara and me when we were presenting our reptile/amphibian report in biology, you would already know that Tenfuuin snakes, despite growing to monstrous sizes depending on the bonded human, always stay at a weight one-fourth of their size. If Kurome here was another snake of the same size, he would weigh about…" She squinted on of her eyes shut in concentration. None of her friends thought this weird, for it happened way too often to be anything other than normal. "… about ninety pounds, give or take twenty. But since he is of the Tenfuuin variety, he only weighs around twenty pounds, give or take five. I haven't actually weighed him, since there was no need to.

"Despite how light they are, they are not, by any means, fragile. They are the best fighters in the world if their bonded are in danger. Many people in the past have used the over-protectiveness that Tenfuuin snakes are prone to, to their advantage when dealing with their enemies. The right words, gestures, heck, the right emotions used towards their bonded will set them off to kill whomever might be of any danger to their human. Up until the late eighteen hundreds, only men were chosen by these snakes, and up until then, the species were on a downward spiral into extinction. I think there were around fifty of them left when the first female bonded came about. Since then, there has been a boom in Tenfuuin numbers. They were much safer than with the ambitious men, and most of the women treated them nicely, fairly, besides those were too disgusted being bonded to scaly ground-gliders.

"Actually, that's where they got so light. Before the first female bond, Tenfuuin snakes, on a large scale, were mistreated and underfed to keep them small, and easy to carry. This was against their genetic code; they could not be so small and light. So, they were further mistreated until, about fifteen generations later, no matter how big the snake got, for in those time, they got to be almost twenty feet in length, they would not exceed a certain weight for how big they were. I guess all the mistreatment at the hands of their bonded actually altered their genetic structure to help them survive living with humans, but not allowing their bone density and muscles to deteriorate dangerously. Refer to the Darwin theory if your confused about that.

"And you can only think about how fat some of those men were, for there were a lot of admirers that came with the Tenfuuin snake. Most of those admirers were for the snake's skin. But since around the late nineteen hundreds, Tenfuuin went 'out of style' you can say, and were then cast away like some dirty rag. There aren't much around anymore, most of them are bonded to some human or other, and the human is watched carefully so they do not mistreat their snake. They are on the Endangered Species list, with only about two hundred of them. That's the ones they marked to keep an eye on. I don't know about any other's that have managed to stay hidden."

Naruto was petting Kurome on the head, Hinata beside her petting his stomach, which laid across her lap, and Gaara was sitting on Naruto's other side. She looked at her company, seeing pensive looks on their faces at what they learned.

"Sheesh, I just asked how you could carry all that weight, we didn't need a history lesson," Kiba joked, grinning. "But that is cool, but sad though. It sounds like Tenfuuin has a bloody history much like us humans do."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, it was."

"Wait a minute, if what you say is true, how on earth do you have one?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto looked at him, and then at the others, seeing the same interested look in their eyes. She sighed, "My old guardian had him, I don't know for how long. But Kurome wouldn't let anyone near him, even my guardian, who was a world renowned snake charmer at some point. He even charmed a cobra, and those things are more temperamental than Tenfuuin snakes are. I was going to my next lesson when he called me into his office and asked if I wanted to meet some of his pets in the next room. Being the lonely child I was, quickly agreed, ecstatic. He let me wander around the room, and I saw all sorts of snakes in different aquariums. Now, when you are home-schooled, you tend to be incredibly naïve of dangerous things, and that's exactly what I was. When I was looking at an interesting green snake, a dark corner of the room caught my eye, and I saw that there was an aquarium there, too. But it was too dark to see inside of it.

"Unaware of any danger, I reached in, and Kurome here wrapped around my arm, and then around my shoulder, the rest of his body curling around mine. He hissed, and it sounded happy. He began to nuzzle me, and lick me, like he found a missing part of himself. I brought him over to my guardian, who had stepped out for a moment to attend to something, and I saw how shocked he was. When he tried to take Kurome away from me, Kurome reared and spit at him. Thinking back now, it was pretty cute to see how small his fangs were then, compared to now. My guardian let me keep him in my room, which had a really big tank brought in almost right away, and I named Kurome. I've had him for about ten years now."

There was silence, and then, "That is so cool… can I touch him?"

Naruto blinked at her weird friend, and then nodded, smiling. Aoiro jumped off the bed, and walked up to Kurome, who was facing her now. Aoiro hesitantly brought her hand up and guided over his scaly skin, which was not soft, but not too hard either. It was a rubbery feeling, but not akin to normal rubber like on car tires.  
"Wow, how often can he shed his skin?" She asked, now petting his head.

"Once every two months now. Actually, he's probably going to be shedding within a few days."

"How can you tell?" Chouji asked, surprisingly putting his bag of chips away.

She motioned for him to come forward, and gently eased Kurome's head towards her. She pointed at some white scales around his eyes, and under his throat, "One way to tell is to time each shedding, and watch for a pattern as the snake grows. Another way to tell is that these white scales here, their supposed to be black. When a snake nears it's shedding, these show up," she then pointed carefully at his eye, which looked misted over slightly. "His eyes also have skin over then, so when he sheds, he peels the old skin over his eyes off too. It's essential for them to shed, for as they grow, their skin does not grow with them. Much like a crab. It grows itself, but the shell does not, and when the time comes, it leaves its old shell and finds another that another animal has left behind. But a snake's new skin grows under the old one until it is finally shed, and the new one allows for more growth."

They nodded, and all of them were now petting Kurome, who was enjoying all the attention on him. Naruto smiled, Kurome deserved all the attention he was getting, that's for sure. A knock on her door interrupted the comfortable silence.

She looked at the door; eyes narrowed, and excused herself from her friends to answer it. She got up, and walked to the door, opening it up a crack and peering out with one crystal cerulean eye, "What?"

"I got several phone calls earlier, and I won't be here tonight. Neither will Jiraiya. Your friends will have to go home now," Tsunade replied, glaring at her briefly, as if challenging her to object. Naruto took the challenge, not to Tsunade's surprise.

"I'll send them home when I want to, and if it takes burning down the house to do it, I will. Now piss off, Tsunade," Naruto glared back, and shut the door in her face.

Tsunade sighed heavily and made her way back to the kitchen, where Jiraiya was waiting for her. He took one look at her, and then put on a smug smirk.

He opened his mouth to say something, but she beat him to it, "Don't. Just don't. I don't want to hear it."

He pouted, "Aw, that takes all the fun out of being right. You're no fun."

"Why would I want to be fun, and have absolutely no respect for myself like you do?" She retorted.

"So mean."

* * *

It was later that day, close to evening when Naruto finally kicked all but Gaara and Aoiro out of her house. Aoiro wanted to see the inside of Kurome's aquarium, and Gaara… well, Gaara pretty well does whatever he wants, and Naruto just accepted it at face value. She did whatever she wanted to, why shouldn't she let him do the same?

"I really don't see the purpose in going in there, you know. Kurome doesn't like people, other than me, to be in there at any time. And he'll know if you have." Naruto tried to reason with her, but she was adamant about it.

"I just want to see, gosh you're impossible sometimes," Aoiro grinned.

Naruto grinned back, "Isn't that my line?"  
They both laughed, and Naruto finally relented in letting Aoiro going into the aquarium. There was really nothing she could do to keep her out anyway, and whatever she sets her mind to, she usually does it. Naruto would know from experience anyway, shuddering at a memory of some of Aoiro's… weirder moments.

"You do realize that anything that may, and will happen once you go in there will be your full responsibility and that anything that does happen will not be used against me in the court of law?" Naruto half joked.

"Yeah, yeah, you're such a worry-wart sometimes, N_ar_u-chan. I'll be fine, Kurome likes me anyway," Aoiro replied, dragging out some of her name.

Naruto scowled, "_Don't_ call me that, it's bad enough Tsunade does."

"What do you have against her anyway? I would think one would be grateful to have parents like that."

"They aren't my parents, they are people assigned to look after me. My real parents died when I was around one or two. And the fact that they try to replace my old guardian really peeves me off sometimes."

"Your old guardian?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, the one I told you gave me Kurome? Him. He took me off the streets when I was about four, and raised me until I was twelve. He taught me a lot of things, him and my self-appointed uncle. One of the many things I learned while staying with him was self-defense, and I was also homeschooled. I actually graduated when I was eleven. I just ain't good with paper work, which is why I'm failing some of my classes. I'm more of the hands-on person."

"Oh, what happened to him then?" Aoiro asked, looking into the aquarium with her hands on either sides of her face to see better.

"He was convicted of some things he didn't do, and was sent to prison. Tsunade and Jiraiya actually knew him when they were younger and all they did was watch him get convicted. They even testified against 'im. Bloo'y bastards, the lot of 'em." Near the end of her explanation, one of the accents she learned when she was seven surfaced, taking on a British accent.

"Wow, there's another thing I learned today. You can speak in a British accent," Aoiro commented lightly, pointedly changing the topic. Naruto grinned back, before giving her a flashlight and leaving the room, "Don't get eaten, I don't want to be smelling you for the next few weeks."

She heard Aoiro laugh as she exited the room. She went to the living room, seeing Gaara sitting on the couch and reading a rather beat up book.

"Hey, watchya up to?" Naruto asked, sitting next to him on the couch.

He looked up briefly before going back to his book, "I don't think I need to answer that question, do I?"

Naruto laughed, "No, not really. Just wanting to make conversation I guess. Aoiro is 'exploring' the Cave of Kurome right now. I have no idea why."

Gaara shrugged, setting a book mark in the book before closing it and setting it lightly on the couch. He gave his attention to Naruto and they began some small talk, talking about school, homework, good music, and Jiraiya's obviously bad taste in football teams.

They didn't realize they were sitting closer to each other, almost touching until they ran out of things to talk about. Naruto noticed how close he was, and blushed. Gaara had entirely fallen silent with an intense look in his eyes as he studied her.

Ever so slowly, his arm came up and lightly brushed her arm on its way it her chin. Keeping their eyes locked, he slowly leaned forward, thumb caressing her cheek. Naruto's blushed deepened, and she, too, leaned forward.

Eyes half lidded, their lips brushing, breath intermingling.

"_HOLY SHIT! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?_"

They sprang apart, breathing irregularly, and looking in the direction of the scream. It took a few moments before Naruto recognized the voice and as soon as she did, she shot towards her room. Not seeing Aoiro in her room, Naruto nimbly jumped into the aquarium, not even waiting for Gaara, entirely focused on her obviously distraught friend.

Knowing the aquarium in and out like the back of her hand, Naruto easily maneuvered through the darkness. She soon saw a light that laying on the ground, but paid it no mind, clearly seeing where the aquarium ended. The hole at the top was open, so she jumped up, and her hands easily cleared the top, pulling herself up.

She saw Aoiro fighting rather well against two men wearing odd black cloaks with read clouds on them. One was a red-head, the one who was actually fighting Aoiro, whose moves were calculated and precise. The other was a blonde, who was now studying a picture.

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto bit out, catching their attention. "Aoiro! Come here!"

Aoiro managed to sock him on the side of the head, and then ran to Naruto.

"Is that her?" The redhead asked after a short recovery. He never took his eyes off Naruto; it was really creepy, actually.

"Yeah, that's her. Same as the picture. Let's just get this done, so I can get back to my sculptures." The blonde answered, grinning. The redhead nodded, and shot towards them, while the blonde rummaged in his bag.

"Aoiro, go back and call Tsunade and Jiraiya. They're on speed dial. Tell them to get here as soon as they can, it's a class four emergency."

"Huh? But-"

"Just do it! Hurry, I'll hold them off!"

Aoiro, not looking happy at all, did as she was told just as the redhead reached her. She jumped away from his punch, and took out her phone. How she managed to hold off the skilled redhead, _and_ dial the number to the person she was calling was beyond her, but she did it all the same.

Once the phone was picked up, the voice on the other end didn't even get a chance to say a greeting before Naruto cut him off, "I need you at my house, ASAP! Trouble with the assholes we've been looking up. Hurry and get the team here!" and she snapped her phone shut. She was forced to throw it away to defend herself properly, and she spared a glance at the blonde, who was aiming a gun at her.

'Shit! A tranquilizer!' she thought, and made a quick mental note to keep an eye on him.

"You are good, I will admit. But you are to come with us now," the redhead said, clutching her fists. Naruto saw the trigger being pulled out of the corner of her eye, and ducked, the tranquilizer going right over her head. She felt rather than saw the knee coming at her face, and she was thrown back harshly with a cry of pain. She landed with a thump, hitting her head on the ground at the same time.

She got up quickly, but unsteadily, not ready to give them a chance to overpower her. She spied another one coming at her, and did a back flip to get away. Once she righted herself, the world spun dangerously and black crawled along the edges of her vision.

"Shinmata!" she swore, taking a knee to the stomach from her attacker. Before he could set his leg down, she grabbed it in a bruising grip and flipped him back. He hit the ground with barely a grunting sound when she raised her leg, and slammed it down between his legs.

She wasn't going to be nice any longer; they were in her area now.

He grunted loudly, making tiny whining sounds as he was holding his crotch. She spied the blonde grimacing, the gun lax in his hands for the moment. Naruto nimbly leaped to the side, and smash her foot into the redheads face, hearing a satisfying crack that indicated a broken jaw bone.

Not finished with him, and wanting to make sure he stayed down, she grabbed his arm. She hauled him up rather easily, twisted around, and hurled him towards the aquarium. He hit the ground rolling, and hit the aquarium with a loud thump. He was still.

She turned and ran to her next opponent, seeing him take aim at her. She rolled out of the way when he shot the next one, and continued on. When she reached him, she jumped up and did a roundhouse kick, which he blocked with his free hand. She landed awkwardly, but confidently and swiftly kicked the gun out of his hand before taking a kick of her own in the ribs. She didn't hear a crack, so she assumed he didn't break any ribs.

The gun landed somewhere she couldn't see, but she put it out of her mind for now and focused on taking him down. Just then, she spied Kurome lying near the side of the house where she couldn't see him before. He was still breathing.

"What the hell did you do to Kurome you fucking asshole?" She screamed and took it up a notch. Her fists were a flurry, her kicks precise, and movement's wild. She screamed out furiously as she got the upper hand and beat the shit out of him.

He raised her leg to kick him in the face and end it when a sharp pain in her left shoulder stopped her. She blinked, and slowly brought her now heavy feeling arm up to grasp what was there. She pulled it out easily and saw that it was a tranquilizer bullet.

And it was empty.

She staggered away from the bloodied body beneath her, and turned to see who shot it.

"You pussies can't even take one little fucking girl down? How fucking pathetic are you, you fucktards? I knew Leader-sama should have left it to us!" said one man.

"I agree with you on that," the other replied, picking up the readhead ungracefully.

The world spun, but Naruto held on as much as she could, "Who the fuck are you?"

"O-oh! She has a pretty mouth on her!" said the first, grinning. "Come on, you troublesome shit, we have to go now."

She staggered, "Go where? I don't have to go anywhere with you!"

He started laughing, "That's a fucking joke!" he walked towards her, but she only heard him do so, the world was spinning too much to see anything. The blackness was crowding her vision.

She felt a hand on her arm, and finally collapsed, unable to hold herself up anymore, "Up you go." She heard.

She felt herself being pulled up and sprawled across someone's broad shoulder. She hung limply, and before she finally gave into the darkness, she heard two familiar yells, "Naru-chan!" and "Naruto-sama!"

And all was dark.

**Wow, that took a long time just to write! My apologies for not getting this out sooner; I was writing it at school. I can't seemed to get into the mood of writing unless I'm at school now, it's odd. Oh well, please drop a review, and tell me what you think.**

The comment about Inuzuka's being 'housebroken' was a jab at Kiba. In the cannon, he acts a lot like a dog, and being 'potty-trained' just didn't fit with him. So 'housebroken' was used. I think it's kind of funny.

Oh yeah, my information about Kurome, most of it is made up to the best of my ability. And if you are confused about the Darwin theory, it's basically the 'survival of the fittest'. It should be in any history book when you enter high school, and if you're confused and don't have one on hand, look it up on the internet. It's actually quite fascinating.

And the part where they shed, I'm not sure if this is entirely correct. But there really isn't any other reason they shed their skin. I mean, alligators and crocodiles don't shed, to my knowledge, and they belong to that family.

And the last thing, you may have noticed I changed my name… again. First FlameRaichu, then KitsuneyJenfner, now MoonKaiser. Strange I can't settle for one for too long.

Anyway, any questions or concerns please PM me.

MoonKaiser.


	7. Pieces

**As many of my dear readers know, I did not have sufficient access to the internet to write the next chapter of my story. Fear not! I have acquired my very own laptop computer with awesome facilities to write to my heart's content! But know that, although the updates will be much closer together, that I will not update as fast as you, my dear readers, wish for me to. Grade 12 is very demanding (to me anyway), and as such, part of the reason I got this laptop was so that I could do my work effectively on it.**

**Anyway, this chapter is mostly dedicated to Naruto's beloved foster parents Tsunade and Jiraiya. I thought that they have been mostly neglected during the story and found, to my irritation that I could not write afford to write anything else. I swear my muse is out to get me.**

**On another note, before we begin, that someone sent me my very first flame! I thank you, Anonymous, for sending me that wonderful flame, and as such (though you probably will not be reading this) Naruto's character is going through some serious revision in the next few chapters. How I am going to do this you might ask? Why, what would be the fun in ruining the story?**

**Anyway, onwards! I hope to receive some more delectable reviews. They're definitely better than the Caesar Salad I had today for lunch! (ugh!) **

**Oh! I almost forgot! My birthday came and past during my... incarceration, you could put it. I turned eighteen on January 2****nd****, and it was an awesome birthday!**

Summary: In cyberspace, she is known as Kyuubi, the only hacker in the world who was able to hack into Area 51's top secret files, and not get caught until just before she completely withdrew from their servers. Many groups of dangerous people are desperately trying to find her real identity, but she wears many masks. Her new high school won't know what hit it.

Pairings: GaaNaru. Onesided SasuNaru, KibaNaru, ItaNaru, SaiNaru, NejiNaru.

Other pairings: ShikaTema, ChouIno, JiraTsun.

Future pairings: KibaHina, NejiTen, IbikiAnko, AsuKur.

Warning: This chapter is rated M for coarse language, content not suitable for younger audiences.

Disclaimer: If I don't say this, Kishimoto would sooo sue my ass. So, sadly, or unsadly, depending on the person, I don't own Naruto.

Notes: I do not know if some of the stuff in this chapter is actually fact. So, I'm happy that its fanfiction and not Wikipedia.

Side Note: Nobody but Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Naruto knows who Kyuubi really is. That fact was not revealed during the investigation/interrogation when Orochimaru and Kabuto were imprisoned, and when Naruto was interrogated afterwards.

Side Note2: Aoiro is a real person, just has a different name. She takes on the personality of my best friend, who requested I integrate her character into the story as one of the hackers. Which hacker, you'll soon find out.

"I'm speaking here!" – talking

'I see dead people.' - thinking

I'm a monkey's aunt – narrating

_I don't care who you are – memories/flashbacks_

"_You_!" – emphasis on words/yelling

"This is so lame." – online chatting/information

Review Feedback:

Mandy-san – Thanks for giving my story a chance! Trust me, I think it is a little bit harder to write a realistic fanfiction story than it is to write one solely in the Naruto world. You have all these things to worry about, and stupid things to fret about and it's slowly driving me nuts. Well, happy reading!

NekoDoodle – I believed I PMed you about your review! Not sure though, but I think I did, lol.

Die blaue Rose – lmao, I love your enthusiasm. It's very contagious. I find myself very excited of the future chapters and how this story will unravel. And don't worry, I have a very... _epic_ episode for their kiss. So don't you worry yourself about it too much! Thanks for the review!

Kyuuki-sama – Haha, I really enjoyed your review. And you guess all of them right! Congrats! –throws a Kurome plushie- Happy hunting! Hope you got all the ones you wanted to get and ripped them to shreds!... just make sure not to come near me with that, okay? Hehe...

Lunarmidnightwolf – I really apologize for not updating earlier, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's all very confusing, I'm glad you are following along so well. Worry your little heart out, it's probably going to get even more complicated from here on out! Thanks for the review!

Oracale – I'm glad you like my story so much, it makes me feel all fuzzy inside... or maybe that's hair from the dogs finally getting into my stomach somehow... I don't know. Anyway! I will keep it up! Oh, and it won't be for a while, seeing as... well, you'll find out soon enough. Thanks for the review!

DarkRavie – Thanks! And I don't know, you tell me! –wink- Thanks for the review!

Codename Tuffy – Glad to be of some services! Thanks for the review!

Riley – Ha! You'll just have to wait and see, won't ya?! Thanks for the review!

Dark Reborn – Thanks! It means a lot to me for you to say that! And I try to be unique, and unfortunately, it is so hard to be these days. Thanks for reviewing!

Rukoh - -blushes- unfortunately, I'm not one of those punctual people that update when they say they do. I'm one of those people who writes when they have motivation. –shrugs- but thanks! I try! Thanks for the review!

Shadowstorm13 – Thanks, I will! And yes, you can change your username without losing anything. At least, I didn't when I changed it before fanfiction staff made a lot of changes to the site. So I'm not so sure anymore. You might want to ask the staff if you are still wary, but generally, you should be able to. Just change it through your account pages when you sign-in.

HeyBabySoSad – wow, you have powerful eyes. YOUR WISH IS MY COMMAND! –poof!- and here is the next chapter! Thanks for the review, lol.

FallenAngelsFeelNoLove – Well, if I told you that, do you think the chapter would be all that interesting? Lol, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did writing it!

Tora youriki – Thanks! I think it's awesome shit too! And here is your update, even if it came a little late!

Tropicalna – lmao, yes, Naruto will be okay, in a manner of speaking, and yes, suspenseful is a word. And that is a very, very interesting concept, but I don't think it would work in my story as much as I would have liked... why? You'll find out in this chapter! And thanks for the review!

NejiTenSasuSaku4eva – Hahahaha!

Sakina-chan – They didn't kiss! That's why a lot of my readers hate me right now! Lol, but it will come to that, don't you worry. I am a firm believer of building the relationship before they jump to second base. And yes, it does build up anticipation... at the same time as building up angry riots at my less than appreciated cliffhangers, lol. Thanks for reviewing!

RasalynnLynx – I love snakes! Not so much spiders, but I've long gotten over my fear for creepy crawlers. And you won't see what I have planned for the Akatsuki for a while yet, but I will be dropping hints here and there, so watch out for them! Thanks for the review!

And now, onto the story! Though, this time, I will not bore you with silly little barney like rhymes!

* * *

.:'Pieces':.

* * *

Drifting...

Blackness...

It knew it was floating, somewhere, somehow... but it didn't think of as to why it was floating so pleasantly, nor could it be bothered to remember who it was. It could be nothingness, a void... just never ending emptiness that just existed, for no more reason than one breathed air. And yet... it could also be alive, but it knew that had to be impossible. Serenity such as it was feeling was no dream; dreams did not give the peace so many craved. One simply did not get this peaceful, this... calm. And the inky darkness, oh how it loved the inky darkness; wrapping almost lovingly around it, and keeping it safe from the monsters that lurked such dark places. But it knew... it knew that no monster would get even close to that protective warmth that now wrapped it in a cocoon, and lay there, floating... drifting...

It felt an insistent tugging on its protective warmth, the one that kept all the chills at bay, and wafted security and possessiveness. But it would not give up its darkness so easily, and tugged back. The source tugged back, that irritating, no good... thing that just wouldn't give up and allow it to stay huddled in its darkness, safe, unthreatened. It tugged back harder, and held the darkness tightly, possessively. A strange game of tugging back and forth erupted, but it was rapidly weakening, and the source was rapidly winning, until the darkness was ripped right out of its grasp and it felt naked, bare, vulnerable.

A foreign color permeated the darkness, tainting its inky blackness with a purity that was absolutely terrifying to it. Trying to take it away! Trying to purify its darkness! It wouldn't have that, not in a century; and certainly not in a millennium! It fled to the darkest pits of the inky blackness it coveted so much, feeling the darkness welcome it like a mother to a child, and tried so very hard to keep the purity at bay. But it was not, the purity found them, and scrabbled at it like a child to a new toy. It fought back, but it was no match, and soon even its warm cocoon of nothingness was gone...

Gone...

It wailed, it screamed, it wept, it yearned; but nothing brought back its cocoon, its nothing. And it was broken. Turning its attention back to the purity, it gnashed, it snarled, it clawed, but the purity evaded all those and consumed it entirely.

It found itself streaming along a tunnel of black, and for the briefest of moments, really believed that its dearest, loveliest darkness was back. But as the tunnel gradually brightened, though the walls remained black, and it saw an unbearable white at the end, rapidly approaching, it began to panic. It squirmed, it swam, but it kept streaming to that unbearable white and it began to burn. Burn like a thousand suns, like a million fires, and invaded its very being.

The white approached fast, like a race car to a finish line; and it burned. Burned so bad that it thoughts were consumed by the burning that gradually incinerated its being, and right when it touched that unbearable white, and the burning greedily consumed its being, that all went a merciful black.

--

It slowly opened its eyes, a blinding ray of light forcing its eyes back shut and a head splitting ache suddenly roared to life within its temples. Parched lips parted to moan in pain, but an equally, if not more parched throat grated in irritation at the sudden use. It moved its head slightly, and winced when its head ached something fierce at the movement.

And then its head was head up and back, and a soothing elixir glided down its throat smoothly, erasing the desert-like state its throat was and them bloomed a stream of refreshment down its throat, chest, and spread through its stomach. The sensation felt so heavenly that it could only sigh wistfully and shut its eyes from whatever open state they had been in. It heard a chuckle from above, but didn't care until the elixir was taken from its mouth and no more was forthcoming.

It opened its eyes a little slower and more cautiously than before, but the light no longer blinded it, and it took the victory to observe the place it was in. However, the person the chuckle resounded from immediately caught its attention, and held it. It didn't know what to make of this strange person in front of it, and thought better of inquiring the person... a she, if it could make of the huge breast sprouting from her chest, her name.

But seemingly, woman in front of her didn't know, or cared what it was previously thinking when she opened her mouth and said, "Thank Kami you're alright, Naruto. Kiba didn't think you were ever going to wake up. Gaara has been worried sick... well, not like he showed it, but I know well enough. And Jiraiya actually gave up his writing for the duration of your... stay from worry."

Utter confusion swept though it like a tsunami, and nothing barred the sudden wave from crashing into the back of its head. The woman in front of it frowned suddenly and inquired, if a little wary, "Naruto? What's wrong?"

Licking its lips, for they were dry and cracked from abuse, it answered in a croaky voice that it was certain was not its own, "Who is Naruto?"

It looked around the room, feeling completely lost, and answered in a softer, yet hoarser voice that it found bewildering and wrong, and suddenly felt out of place.

"And... who am I?"

--

Tsunade sat at her desk, staring at the messy top filled with papers, forms, reports to be filed, empty food cartons, sake glasses, soil from the plant in the corner, dried drool near the computer mouse that was connected to the laptop on the opposite corner of the plant, a brush, spots of make-up here and there, and other unmentionable things that Tsunade obviously had no idea where they originated from or how they managed to get there.

Nothing could be discerned from the blank look the unmistakably beautiful, yet slight wrinkled face featured; the eyes, used to view the soul, were useless to those seeking knowledge on what was wrong, and were seemingly focused on nothing. The office she was in was silent –eerily silent, time itself seemed to have stopped and if it wasn't for the constant _tick... tick... tick..._ of the clock near the door, they wouldn't even be aware of the passage of Grandfather Time. Then, her amber eyes focused on a particular report written in what was unmistakably her hand. It was parch white where there were no printed black words and hasty scrawl in blue ink near the bottom where the notes were located.

Like in a daze, she reread what she wrote not half an hour before, back in that now unbearably depressing room where her adopted child was resting to prevent any further confusion and shock to her still healing system. But her brain was not focused on the words that she already knew by heart, and wasn't on the out-of-place blonde on the too white bed, but on the day, two weeks ago, that her child... _her child_ was going to be kidnapped, taken away by people she didn't know, for a reason she had no clue. And _it hurt_, hurt so bad that her child, _her beautiful child_ was doing illegal things, and so far in that men _she didn't seem to know_ tried to take her away, for _unknown_ reasons.

Oh Kami-sama, Tsunade didn't know what would happen to her if Naruto were taken away from her. She didn't _want_ to think about it, to anticipate what would happen, because thinking about it was that much more disturbing, heart-_wrenching_. It seemed that that girl, that too intelligent for her own good, too sharp-tongued, too naive, too _young_ child wriggled so far into Tsunade's heart without even trying that she thought, nay, _believed_ that if Naruto were to suddenly disappear from Tsunade's life, that she would rip the elder woman's very _heart_ out and she would die.

_Confusion upon awakening, patient does not seem to have any idea where she is. When engaged in conversation, patient expressed no knowledge of whom she is or where she was. After further testing, it is concluded that patient has a severe case of amnesia and will be kept in isolation until further data presents itself._

--

Jiraiya was worried. More than worried, he was downright over himself, drowning in the ever escalating panic that overtook him when he witnessed the in-progress kidnapping of his girl, _his girl_. Naruto may not have been theirs in birth and blood, but she was everything but. He didn't think she realized it, but she was so _god damn important_ to both him and Tsunade, their sun, their moon; heck, _their world_ if he was the open corny type. Naruto was everything he wanted in a daughter, and had no doubt that if Tsunade had been able to bear children, that their child wouldn't be anywhere near Naruto.

Well, when it sounded like that, Jiraiya suddenly didn't know what he was saying... but when did he ever? Jiraiya's apprentice, that loudmouth Namikaze with a smile that outshone the very sun, who had his part in giving life to his daughter with his radiantly beautiful wife who was like Venus incarnate, was like a son to him, and didn't mind so much his flaws as he cared about Jiraiya's perfections. Minato always saw the bright side of things, was always shining brighter than a star, and sharper than a knife, and swifter than a bullet, and so many other things that just made Minato, Minato. Jiraiya couldn't have asked for anything better.

Even for endless inspiration for his world acclaimed books.

But when Minato and Kushina were murdered –Jiraiya had an excellent idea who planned and executed it- he felt like his heart was ripped from his chest, and grief gripped his mind with a steadfast hold that prevented him from doing anything other than stare out the window all day. Jiraiya was sure, even though nothing other than immensely painful grief that crushed his very ribs under its pressure he was aware of, that Tsunade had taken it worse than him. Tsunade had taken the deaths well, considering they were very important people to her, but it was the disappearance of their four year old child that really got to her. She couldn't stand the thought that such an endearing and innocent child was gone from their lives, ripped away like Minato and Kushina before their time.

But life moved on, and nearing the ninth year of their deaths and Naru-chan's –her nickname they gave her at birth- disappearance did they get a phone call that turned their depressed lives upside down. Orochimaru, their best friend during high school and throughout the years shortly after, had been apprehended and put on trial for the murder of Namikaze Minato and Namikaze Kushina, whose maiden name was Uzumaki, and the kidnapping of Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto.

Jiraiya didn't like remembering that particular trial, and if it were up to him, would have forgotten about it entirely. But it was burned into his memory like it was only yesterday instead of several years ago. He would never forget the smug, shit eating smirk Orochimaru threw at him when Naruto evaded so many police officials to reach him and give him a hug around his waist in desperation. Jiraiya remembered that Naruto was subjected to many psychiatrists and shrinks after the trial; social services wanted to know what kind of influence the convict Orochimaru had on the girl and how it would affect her future. And he especially remembered when officials tried to take her snake away and receive a nasty bite and glare in return. He chuckled briefly when it the bite did not come from the snake, but from Naruto herself.

Shaking his head out of his reminiscent musings, Jiraiya thought back to the day, two weeks ago, when Naruto was being kidnapped by weird men in black cloaks and red cloud designs. He had his network up at full capacity, looking for these unknown assailants, but they kept coming up empty time and time again. And he remembered the strange group that had helped Tsunade and him acquire Naruto's prone form again before the bastards disappeared.

_He didn't know what to make of the weird people that had shown up at the same time they did, nor did he have any idea what they were doing there, but obviously the group were on their side for now. So, 'for now', Jiraiya did not care in the slightest that they were standing there and literally growling at the bastards that attacked Naruto._

"_Hidan, Kakuzu, finally come out of hiding, eh?" The silver-haired team, obviously the leader from the formation, snarled out._

_Okay, maybe they did know the strange men in black cloaks. Now if only they would cooperate and tell him what the _fuck_ was going on!_

_Hidan grinned sinisterly; pearlescent white teeth almost twinkling with their cleanliness. "Ah, it's you brats again. Doesn't that snake know that he can't stop us?"_

_Snake? What snake? The only snake Jiraiya could think of was the creepy resemblance between Orochimaru and said reptile. Oh, and Kurome, of course, but they wouldn't mention Naruto's Tenfuuin friend in that context. Something was up, and it was bigger than he thought._

"_That means shit, and you know it, Hidan. Tell your... _master_ that Naruto-sama is no longer a pawn in his twisted little games."_

_Now Jiraiya was really confused. Who was this Hidan's master, or boss? Why were they targeting Naruto? How are they related to Naruto? Who are they? Why are they here? What do they want? What does their boss want with Naruto? So many questions flew through his mind, and Jiraiya didn't know how to stop them long enough to put the pieces together._

"_Oh, don't worry. Naruto is _always_ going to be part of our plans. Always. And you can tell _your _master that." Hidan's grin grew ever wider, and Jiraiya knew that if they didn't act now, they weren't going to get Naruto out of their grasp._

Following that little conversation, they had managed to get Naruto safely away from them, but they had fled as soon as they realized that they were slowly losing the fight. And curiously, as soon as they fled, the group that fought on Naruto's behalf also fled, with one lost look at Naruto's prone form. Jiraiya couldn't make anything of it, and eventually stopped trying to when he gave himself the billionth headache in a row.

A ring from his jacket pocket brought him back to the present, and without missing a beat, Jiraiya opened it with flourish and greeted the person on the other side with a, "Yello! This is Jiraiya speak-"

"Naruto woke." A familiar voice cut him off smoothly.

And it was a wonder that Jiraiya didn't leave his phone behind in mid-air from how past he shot off, in the direction of the hospital.

--

The door to Tsunade's office opened and closed so fast and quietly that if any had been watching the door at that moment would have seen the man just appear out of nowhere. Jiraiya looked slightly haggard from his sudden sprint to the hospital, but he obviously ignored it when his eyes locked onto the amber of Tsunade's and saw the lost behind them.

Almost as if he was empathic, he crossed the room in three long, smooth strides, around the desk in another two, and wrapped his arms tightly around his wife as she finally broke down and wept on his shoulder. And almost as if he knew, just knew, without a shadow of a doubt what was wrong, he said, "It will be alright, my wife. We will get through this, you, me and Naruto. Together always, like the vows we took when we were silly drunk teenagers."

Her shoulders still shook of unshed tears and her eyes were rimmed with red and puffy, but she gave a laugh nonetheless and felt, actually felt the reason she fell in love with him in the first place. However, that did not mean she was ready to face the world again, and held on with an iron grip; but there was no need, for Jiraiya understood, actually understood, and without a word, braced Tsunade against the rage of time and problems of life until she felt ready, really ready, to face the future with a determined heart and strengthened will.

Finally they parted, but held on with eyes and hearts, and Tsunade told him with an even voice that shook beneath the facade what had become of Naruto. And Jiraiya, with wisdom seldom any saw but her, replied, "This is a sign from the fates that there are such things as second chances. We will show Naruto what she should have received had she come to live with us in the first place, and maybe, just maybe, when she gains her memories back, she won't be as cold as before. And maybe, just maybe, she could live like any other teenager in this world – carefree and bright and away from the influence that is Orochimaru."

And right then, Tsunade wondered how she was so lucky that she had someone so caring and determined as Jiraiya, the world acclaimed super-pervert with a heart of gold and strength of steel.

And she found her answer the next moment when he wrapped his arms around her and the security his strong arms promised made all her troubles melt and shed, like unwanted clothes during the heat of a hot summer day.

Tsunade rested her head on his chest, his chin resting lightly on her head, and the warmth he willingly gave seeped into her soul and refused to leave.

**-looks at handiwork with a bit of amazement- well... that came out better than I thought it would. What do you think? Is it good? Bad? So-so? Tell me, I need to know how my writing is, and if I to improve for the next chapter. The more reviews I get, the faster the next chapter comes out. Oh, and don't forget to tell me your thoughts! I thrive off opinions and constructive criticism!**

**Sorry if it seems that I'm a bit pushy, but it's really been too long, and I am anxious.**

**Later!**


	8. Makes No Difference

**I'm BACK!! -ducks down- though many of you are probably not happy to see me at the moment, eh heh... but anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter nearly as much as I enjoyed writing the last three quarters of it. Aaaaaand the rhyme is back! It's a spoiler for all you people who like little spoilers, so you gotta unravel it (though really, I suck at these kinds of things, so it probably won't be hard).**

**Oh yes, there's another thing. Since Naruto has lost all her memories (GaaNaru plushies to those who figures out exactly **_**how**_** I made her lose her memories; it's directly in chapter six) she has been almost completely changed from her bad girl, ass kicking persona to nearly the same as she would be without Orochimaru in her life. Meaning, canon!Naruto persona is coming through! MAKE WAY! BEEP! BEEP! xD though she will be a bit more... polite. It will pass, I assure you. The idea of a polite Naruto is quite scary.**

**Anyway, onto the chapter!**

Summary: In cyberspace, she is known as Kyuubi, the only hacker in the world who was able to hack into Area 51's top secret files, and not get caught until just before she completely withdrew from their servers. Many groups of dangerous people are desperately trying to find her real identity, but she wears many masks. Her new high school won't know what hit it.

Pairings: GaaNaru. Onesided SasuNaru, KibaNaru, ItaNaru, SaiNaru, NejiNaru.

Other pairings: ShikaTema, ChouIno, JiraTsun.

Future pairings: KibaHina, NejiTen, IbikiAnko, AsuKur.

Warning: This chapter is rated M for coarse language, content not suitable for younger audiences.

Disclaimer: If I don't say this, Kishimoto would sooo sue my ass. So, sadly, or unsadly, depending on the person, I don't own Naruto.

Notes: I do not know if some of the stuff in this chapter is actually fact. So, I'm happy that its fanfiction and not Wikipedia.

Side Note: Nobody but Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Naruto knows who Kyuubi really is. That fact was not revealed during the investigation/interrogation when Orochimaru and Kabuto were imprisoned, and when Naruto was interrogated afterwards.

Side Note2: Aoiro is a real person, just has a different name. She takes on the personality of my best friend, who requested I integrate her character into the story as one of the hackers. Which hacker, you'll soon find out.

"I'm speaking here!" – talking

'I see dead people.' - thinking

I'm a monkey's aunt – narrating

_I don't care who you are – memories/flashbacks_

"_You_!" – emphasis on words/yelling

"This is so lame." – online chatting/information

Review Feedback:

cbadgr - I will most definitely continue!

Dark Reborn - The main pairing is GaaNaru, with side pairings that I mention but don't actually work on. This is mainly a Naruto-centric story, so I decided to mention them and then show them. Hahaha, Itachi and Naruto is a different story; a yaoi I'm working on but not having much success... ah hehe... anyway, thanks for the review.

bookworm182 - Here's the next chatper, hope you like it!

.Insanity - 0.o didn't think anyone would want her back with Orochimaru. Well, since you're a fan of that outcome, why don't you try to make sense of the little rhyme before the chapter starts? It's a spoiler ;D thanks for reviewing! Oh yes, and have a Kurome plushie! XD -hands a Kurome plushie-

TwinTrouble - Hi again! I was like, 'holy crap that's a long review', lol. And yes, I'm not the smartest cookie in the box when it comes to covert missions and secret information passing. I'm actually quite loud. Oh, and it was just a simple tranquilizer. It was only meant to knock her out for... easier transportation XD if you reread chapter 6 carefully, you'll find how she lost her memory, though I don't think many people know where the memory storage is in a person's brain. And thankies for the compliment. I was taking psychology when I wrote that chapter, and it just came to me while I was in class. And you have noooo idea XD lmao, I didn't think many people would pay attention to the rhymes at the top of every chapter. And you're right, their more than simple pieces of poetry. Their meant to be said by Orochimaru; I love how creepy his voice is and taunting with pieces of poetry is like that boogie man song. 'Na na na na na na... he's going to get you, he's going to get you, na na na na na na...' lol.

I'm a VERY big fan of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution. I knew snakes were heavier the bigger they got and since she's had him for years and years, he was going to be a _very_ heavy snake. And that wouldn't do at all. And I created Kurome because I wanted Naruto to have a companion that wasn't romantically interested in her and since she didn't exactly have many friends in Orochimaru's 'hideout', she needed someone to 'lean on'. And the fox is much too cliche for my liking, so I chose a snake! Hahaha, I made him a bit lovestruck. I though it would be kind of funny. He's pining after Naruto while hordes of girls are pining after him and he's getting the same results from Naruto as he is from his fangirls. It's kind of like... love at first strike xD and yes, everything shall be coming together soon... -evil finger pose- ahem, thanks. Yes, I didn't want her to be overbearing on orange, cause really, what partial emo person wears a whole crap load of orange? She still loves orange, but she dresses a bit darker. 3 I had a picture of someone reading that part and blinking stupidly for a moment and saying, "Naruto knows big words?!" hahaha. And would you think a public school is any safer than her previous home with Orochimaru? At least there she knew what to expect, lol.

-blinks- wow, I had a lot of fun. And thanks for the review, even though it's so freaking long, lol. And here's the next chapter (finally, you say, I don't blame you xD). Enjoy!

DarkRavie - if you were expecting action, then you are going to be sorely disappointed. Though, if you were looking forward to some mushy, feely stuff, then welcome aboard!

FallenAngelsFeelNoLove - here's the next chapter for you! And don't worry, she'll get better!

wildchild22 - wow, I feel flattered -blink- I'm glad you like it! Here's the next chapter for ya, enjoy!

Kyuuki-sama - Haha, I love snakes too, but I have like, five dogs and I don't think my dad would be too happy with a snake in the house. 3 glad you like the plushie though! And thankies! I thought I'd have to hide myself and my stories, but I'm glad I don't, lol. And don't worry, she will, though it's going to be a few chapters until then. Enjoy this one!

skyflyte12 - no problem, enjoy the chapter!

tora youriki - what do you think I'm doing? Lol. XD

Tropicalna - I have no idea if that is a word or not, but if it isn't, at least you get to be coined for it! Don't worry, Orochimaru will indeed take an interest in Sasuke, but not in the way you'll expect. And not in the dirty way either! -shudders- eww... anyway, thanks for the review and thanks for the suggestion. It made me think of a few scenarios! XD

NejiTenSasuSaku4eva - huh?

Sakina-chan - oh, didn't you know? The longer the awesome kiss is put off, the better and more explosive it will be! It's the main reason why authors hold off the kiss scenes until a little later in the story. It's just better that way, lol.

PureHFA - lol, I'm still alive... sorta... 3

Xeno Major - It was meant to be confusing! Don't worry, I'll be explaining some more on the kidnapping scene later on. Thankies for the review, glad you like it!

GoldenKitsuneHime13 - you don't know the half of it! I moved from barely any internet at all to all out no internet! It sucks big time, but at least I updated, lol. And enjoy the chapter!

Jesi -the immortal warecat- - haha, it's nice to know you like Kurome as much as I do. I've never used a snake in a story before, so it's kind of weird to be writing about one. Enjoy the chapter! There's a whole part with Gaara in it!

* * *

.:'Makes No Difference':.

_Itty bitty kitsune, what happened to your mind?  
__Your thoughts are in the grinder, grind, grind, grind.  
__Poor little kitsune, your memories are not but sand,  
__If you want them back, come and take my hand._

* * *

She didn't know what was going on, or what was happening, or where she was, or _who_ she was. It was all very disconcerting to be in that bleached room, where silence reigned supreme save for the consecutive _ticks_ that marked the passage of time to those not conscious of it. To anyone else, the silence would have been awkward and the _ticks_ of the large clock on the wall irritating to say the least, but she found them comforting in the sense that it allowed her to get her wayward thoughts in order.

But even that wasn't working too well.

That woman from earlier addressed her as _Naruto_, but she wasn't so sure that was her name. Sure, anything was plausible at this moment in time, but seeing as she couldn't even remember her own name... well, suddenly the world seemed a whole lot more scarier. How was she to tell what was right and what was wrong when she barely knew the difference between the two? How did she know what was truth and what was a lie if the concept bewildered her already abused mind?

She was pulled out of her strange musings when a knock sounded at the door. By some unconscious hobby or forced caution from some part of her unknown past, she scanned her mind for any hints as to who the person on the other side of the door might be, but pulled up a resounding blank. And suddenly, even the safety of the small room was compromised.

Throwing caution to the wind, she called out a timid, "Come in!"

The knob turned and the door glided inward smoothly. A second past, then a small brown blur raced into the room and onto her bed. So startled by the sudden appearance that she shrieked and nearly lashed out, but was unexpectedly tackled into her bed and was subjected to a thorough face wash.

Shrieks of laughter cut through the dense silence the room was in earlier, drowning out the other voice as it was trying to get the brown thing to heel. Finally, a sharp "Akamaru!" got it to back off slightly, but not enough to let her sit back up. Ignoring the spluttered apologies, she was finally able to see what had attacked her.

A small puppy sat on her lap, looking up at her with adoring chocolate brown eyes that just made her heart melt. She smiled, her first since she could remember (which was admittedly not long), and brought her hand up to scratch behind the puppies ears. Something in the back of her mind whispered that it was a male and belonged to someone named Kiba, but in the next moment, was forgotten. The puppy settled down on her lap, laying languidly across her legs and tongue hanging out in joyous rapture at the talented fingers finding all of the sensitive spots on his head.

"Wow, I didn't think Akamaru would take to you so fast, Naruto."

She couldn't ignore the use of that name, and so looked up into the dark brown eyes of the stranger that entered her room. Something tugged at her mind, but was momentarily forgotten when she saw how many other strangers had entered the room while she was distracted. Panic swelled up in her stomach, making it flutter uncomfortably, but she forced it down in case she somehow knew these people. They all looked familiar, but so did the one with the dark brown eyes and that was helping none.

"Uhh..." she said intelligently, not knowing _what_ to say.

"Kiba, you idiot. You're making her nervous. Give the poor girl some room before I pound your head in and save us all the misery." A sandy-haired young woman said with an irritated scowl on her face. The young woman's attention turned from the one named Kiba (who was now backing off with a scared expression on his tanned features) onto her, and gave a small smile, "You haven't met me before, but I'm Temari. It's nice to meet you."

She gave a shy smile back, "N-nice to meet you too, Temari-san. Forgive me for my rudeness, as I can't exactly remember my name at the moment." And at that, gave a sheepish smile, scratching the back of her head.

"Your name is Naruto, you baka. How could you forget your own na- itai! What was that for?" the one named Kiba half-yelled, only to be hit upside the head with the fan that was currently in Temari's hand.

"Didn't you hear what Tsunade-sama said, you dumbass? She has _amnesia_, meaning she _can't_ remember some things."

"Oh..." was all he said in return and fell silent in his own embarrassment.

"Ano..." she spoke up, garnering everyone's attention. "Gomen, but can you all introduce yourselves? I feel like I'm sitting in a room with strangers."

Silence, then...

"I'm Hyuuga H-Hinata," the blue haired girl stepped forward, giving a small, polite bow. "I'm g-glad you are o-okay, Naruto-chan."

She smiled, "Thank you, Hinata-chan."

Hinata smiled back, and then stepped out of the way for someone else. The next person was the obnoxious brunette, "I'm the great Inuzuka Kiba of the famous Inuzuka dog trainers. That lazy mutt there is Akamaru, my first puppy." Akamaru did not take well to being called a mutt, but a reassuring (and talented) hand settled him back down with a huff of annoyance and groan of pleasure when long fingers scratched a particularly sensitive area behind his ears.

Kiba had nothing else to say after that; his family was barely able to settle the normally excitable dog, but Naruto managed it pretty well on her own.

"Eh, it's nice to meet you, Kiba-san."

"Just Kiba, you're making me feel old," Kiba whined, scratching the back of his head with a stupid grin on his face. She nodded and smiled back.

"Nara Shikamaru," announced another brunette with his hair tied back in a spiky ponytail. She nodded to him, "Nice to meet you Shikamaru."

He gave her an odd look, but she brushed it off when someone suddenly barged into the small room with a slight skid, "Is Naru-chan awake?! What did I miss? Someone tell me~!"

She looked quite startled and wary when the newest arrival suddenly appeared, yelling loud enough to wake up the dead, and then some. Several issues of 'Shhh!' from nearby doctors and nurses were promptly ignored by the strange girl for the only person in her mind was the person on the bed with a bandage wrapped around her head.

Inconsiderately pushing the other visitors out of the way, the girl wrapped her arms tenderly around the blonde, and hugged her firmly, "Oh my god, I thought they were going to take you away and that I would never be able to see you again!"

She froze unexpectedly; that embrace felt so familiar, yet so strange in the way that she felt as if she didn't deserve such open affection from someone she thought she didn't know. Despite not having her memory, the hug was familiar, and even though she was wary, the blonde returned it hesitantly. And instantly felt better.

"Man," the blue haired girl said, pulling back with a radiant smile. "I've been so worried about you! How's the head? You hit it pretty hard, ya know. And I can't believe how awesome you fight! It was like 'pow!'" She accentuated the exclamation with a pump of her fist into mid-air, punching some unforeseen foe. Then, she crossed both her arms in front of her chest, "And you were like," then, she put an over exaggerated scowl on her face, eyes narrowed into almost slits. "And they were all like-"

"I think we get it," Shikamaru drawled. "But Naruto doesn't. So lay off the sugar until she's better."

The blue haired girl grinned almost sheepishly -her expression was too mischievous for it to be believed- and nodded with a, "Hai, hai."

The blonde smiled timidly, still keeping the puppy on her lap a metaphorical pile of goo (though it's as close to metaphorical as one could get). He was so cute, and she couldn't help but-

She blinked, a frown on her face, "Eto..."

"What's the matter, Naruto?" Temari asked.

"Ano, isn't there something missing?"

Missing? Temari and Shikamaru exchanged glances while Kiba and Hinata did the same. The blue haired girl, who still hadn't introduced herself, thought for a moment before she snapped her fingers, "You mean Kurome, right?"

"Kur-ome?" Naruto chewed on the name; it was so familiar. Just on the tip of her tongue...

"Yeah, he's your pet snake!"

"You bimbo. Why'd you tell her abo-"

"He's... black, isn't he? With... three? marks on his head? Like commas?" The blonde asked herself, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear. They shut up immediately, with Hinata exiting the room as fast as she could. The amnesiac didn't notice. "He's very long, but heavy? No, that isn't right... he isn't very heavy at all..." she kept muttering things under her breath, now too low for anyone to hear.

Tsunade suddenly appeared at the door, out of breath and her face flushed with excitement, "You remembering something, Naruto?" The older blonde shot a look at everyone, and apparently, they all received the same message, _get lost_.

The room was empty in less than half a minute.

The younger blonde held her head in one tan hand, long fingers gripping her temples in an attempt to ease the sudden ache. Tsunade sat next to her on the hospital bed, careful not to touch.

"Naruto?"

Tsunade hoped that Hinata was right about Naruto regaining some of her memories through Kurome. It was just strange sitting so close to the younger whirlwind without getting a glare or a noise of contempt. And it was even more strange that Naruto hadn't reacted to her close proximity at all. Either she was lost in the infinite of her mind, or the younger blonde really didn't mind all that much.

Secretly, even though it went against her morale ethics and code, Tsunade hoped that Naruto would never regain her memories. A fresh start was best for the youth, and neither Jiraiya nor Tsunade wished for Orochimaru to reign over her life like he has.

"Why is everything so... blank? Why... do I feel like there is something important I should remember?" The younger blonde suddenly asked, looking up at the older. Her eyes looked so... blank, it seemed like something should be lurking in those blue depths, but it was missing in action with her memories. Like a canvas waiting for the artist who has the paint to create wonders. It shot something terribly painful through Tsunade's chest, something she couldn't quite pinpoint.

"I-... maybe it's your memories that you deem important. I know my memories are important, even if some of them are not entirely pleasant." Tsunade replied, hesitating a breath before setting her slightly wrinkly hand on top of the younger blonde's tanned one. The amnesiac didn't seem to notice.

"I wouldn't know, would I?" She asked in a bitter tone, a mocking sneer on her beautiful face.

"No," Tsunade agreed with a hidden wince. "I suppose you wouldn't. Though, you mustn't give up hope, Naruto. Your memories will come back and you can move on from this mishap."

The tanned youth gave her an odd look to accompany the weird raise in octave at the last sentence, mistrust in her crystalline eyes, "You don't want me to remember." A statement. Not a question, not an inquiry. A statement. And that made Tsunade wince.

Guilt rushed through her; why did her morals have that much of an impact on her? "Well..." she sighed. "I agree. A part of me doesn't want you to regain your memories." The younger simply sat there, waiting for the entire explanation like an adult would to a child caught doing something stupid. Tsunade felt stupid. "Because I want you to have a fresh start to life, without your previous misconceptions keeping you from enjoying the good things life has to offer. But the other part of me wants you to regain your memories, so that you can continue living the life you want; not what other people want. The way you lived before."

The amnesiac thought a moment, blank blue eyes staring at some part of the opposite wall. Then, she stated, "The first is you, the real you, and the second is your doctor instinct."

Tsunade was at a loss for words, so she merely nodded. Amber eyes were staring longingly at the tanned hand beneath her pale, slightly wrinkled one, suddenly wishing that the younger blonde would take her hand and squeeze it. The longing hurt.

"Tsunade?" She asked, remembering the name of the older woman from before.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"What's my name?"

Tsunade smiled, "Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Naruto, I'm sure."

* * *

Naruto looked up, the knock at the door reverberating throughout the small hospital room. She frowned; she wasn't expecting anyone and Tsunade had decided that she wouldn't be getting visitors for another couple of days to allow the new information to sink in.

Who could it be?

"Come in..." Naruto called out hesitantly, folding her hands beneath the blanket nervously. A tall, tanned man with long spiky white hair and odd clothing peeked into the room with a grin on his face before retreating long enough to carry in a large, square thing with a cloth over it. She recognized the man to be Jiraiya, Tsunade's spouse and all around pervert. Naruto had developed the habit of calling him 'ero-sennin' but it seemed he didn't mind it too much.

"What's that, ero-sennin?" Naruto asked, pointing at the thing he carried in. Her nervousness was forgotten.

The white haired man scowled playfully, "Don't call me that, gaki! And this... well, why don't I show you?"

For some odd reason, Naruto felt... eagerness at what the cloth covered thing could be hiding. Like, she knew what was inside, but humoring the old man. It was strange; she honestly had no idea what could be under that cloth.

Jiraiya lightly set the thing down at the very edge of her bed and his hand disappeared beneath the cloth for a moment. She heard a distinct _click! _of a latch releasing and then the old man took a couple of steps back, far enough away to avoid something if it came to it and still close enough to hold the thing on the bed.

Odd.

Something moved beneath the cloth, and Naruto's previous nervousness was simply a memory, buried beneath her growing curiosity and excitement. What could be under the thing Jiraiya was holding on the bed? Could it be a puppy like Akamaru? Or a cat? Maybe a kitten! No... the thing was much too big to hold a kitten, much less a cat. A small dog, perhaps? It hadn't made any sound as of yet...

_Hisssss..._

Eyes wide, Naruto watched, fascinated, as a long, sleek, black _snake_ gracefully wove itself out of it's _cage_ and just as smoothly wrapped itself around her still form. Something tugged at her mind, something important... but as soon as it started, it vanished, leaving the blonde to her newest fascination.

It flicked it's tongue at her face, tasting her skin, taking in her scent and hissed in an almost reassuring way. Wait... Naruto brought her hands up, surprisingly on their own accord and grasped the large triangular head of the snake gently, rubbing her thumbs affectionately along the small, smooth scales. It _did_ hiss at her reassuringly and her body moved on it's own accord. That must mean that she was on a very familiar ground with the large snake.

The tugging came back, much more insistent and she brought her right hand to her temple with a small wince.

"_Kurome!"_

"_You'll be with me forever, won't you Kurome?"_

"_Sensei worked me into the ground again. Not surprising, huh, Kurome?"_

"_You're my only friend, Kurome! I'll love you forever and ever and ever and ever!"_

"_Oyasumi nasai, saiai..."_

"Saiai... Kurome?" Naruto said, looking back up at the snake, taking in it's features hungrily, searching for something familiar with an intensity that temporarily stunned Jiraiya. He hadn't really expected it to work so well, heck, he didn't even think it would work at all. He realized, as Naruto was stroking Kurome just as lovingly as Kurome was wrapping his long body around her, that their bond went far deeper than most even dreamed.

To him, it was a little more than slightly disturbing. But he had always prided himself on his ability to look underneath the underneath, and to _see_ underneath all the lies that surrounded the blonde teenager, all the things she hid, even from herself... well, the bond between the two wasn't so disturbing after all.

* * *

Sea-foam green eyes searched the hallway carefully before pulling the correct door open and slipping quietly inside. The room was a standard hospital room; white walls, white shades on the windows, spotless sink and counter, organized medical tools along the wall... the sanitary smell of disinfectant. Indeed, it was just like any other hospital room.

Except, this one held Uzumaki Naruto.

The owner of the eyes sought those blue ones of the person he had become so attached to in recent months, but instead of finding them, he found a mess of golden hair spread in knots along the pillow and the owner buried deeply beneath thick white blankets. The blankets were moving up and down ever so slightly to signal that the one buried beneath the blanket was still alive. But that was not what arrested the attention of the eyes.

Oh no. What arrested them so quickly was the long black snake curled protective around the blonde. And just at that moment, the owner of the blonde hair tossed back the blanket ever so slightly, revealing that the blonde wasn't, in fact, using the pillow to cradle her head, but the thickest part of the snake's body. The rest curled around the blonde's near petite frame and disappeared beneath the blanket. Only a vague outline gave the indication that the rest of the snake was curled around the blonde's left leg.

Kurome studied him, rising ever so slightly from where he was resting to look at the intruder that appeared so suddenly. However, he deemed the visitor without ill intention and relaxed back into his previous spot. The blonde he was wrapped around shifted ever so slightly, heaving a sigh as she fell back into deeper slumber.

Subaku no Gaara knew it was getting late and that visiting hours were nearly over, but he couldn't help the fact that he... missed the blonde's presence. It had been a constant in the past months, and he had grown so used to it that the blonde's sudden disappearance disrupted whatever peace of mind he managed to salvage from her sudden appearance. It was frustrating, dammit, and he was going to get to the bottom of the strange feelings he was experiencing.

Knowing that Kurome wouldn't attack him if he came closer -the snake would have stayed poised to strike if he was being particularly protective- Gaara gingerly sat on the chair next to the bed, immediately finding it uncomfortable. He scowled a little before creasing his face back into his impassive one and stared down at the blonde, who was still sleeping soundly.

The minutes ticked by slowly, the only indication of time passing at all was the large clock hanging merrily on the opposite wall. But thankfully, it was not like the ones that liked to _tick!_ someone into extreme irritation. It was silent. As was Gaara.

He immersed himself in his thoughts while staring at Naruto's peacefully sleeping face. He was only half aware of the amount of trouble he would be in if he was caught, but for some odd reason, he could not really bring himself to care. And considering who ran the hospital, that was quite a feat.

Absently, he roved his sharp, sea-foam green eyes over the blonde's features, taking them in, absorbing them into his memory without really thinking about what he was doing. Her face was turned towards him slightly, her pouty red lips opened just the slightest. Her lids were closed, hiding brilliant blue gems from the world and Gaara could not help but think that the world was missing out on something important. The six whisker marks on her cheeks -three on each cheek- were dark, but blended in with her face so well it was a wonder they weren't natural...

... wait. Were they natural? Gaara cast about his memories, attempting to fish any memory pertaining to the origins of her whisker marks, but reeled in nothing. All he could recall from the memories pertaining the blonde were how pretty she looked when the sun hit her face _just right_, how the moonlight made her skin come _alive_, how her eyes made even the _sky_ _dull_ in comparison...

So lost in his reminiscent thoughts, he didn't notice his hand come up of their own volition to stroke Naruto's cheek softly, so softly that it left a path of tingling nerves. And gently, ever so gently he ran his thumb across her bottom lip, his eyes glazed over; his mind elsewhere.

The shadows in the room lengthened.

His hand moved from her face, specifically her bottom lip to Naruto's blonde locks, sweeping through them with his long fingers. It was while he was running his hand through the blonde's hair that he came to a partial realization. So lost was he in this realization that he stood, and leaned over Naruto's slighter, sleeping frame.

He stayed like that for what seemed like forever until he slowly lowered his head towards hers, his eyes sliding shut on their own. Just before the sea-foam green eyes were hidden from the world just like the blue gems he so wanted to see, Naruto curled into a ball, snuggling into Kurome's smooth stomach.

Suddenly coming back to himself violently, he recoiled harshly, half horror stricken at his loss of control and half angry at himself for allowing his control to slip. And so deep into his bout of self-hatred that he gave no regard for the fleeing emotions evoked by such a close encounter, allowing them to hide away in the back of his mind and the deepest reaches of his heart.

He stood there, panting softly for minutes and minutes, trying to come to a decision. He couldn't bring himself to look at the peacefully sleeping blonde; he wouldn't allow himself to take advantage of her obviously fragile state. He couldn't bring himself to look deeper into the feelings and emotions the blonde inflicted on him; made him feel without even trying. Made his heart beat furiously every time he met her eyes.

He was scared, dammit, of what he might find.

He was scared of what might happen next.

He was scared of her reaction.

He was just... scared; and it pissed him off to no end.

He sent one more fleeting glance at the instigator of his confused state with much more than just fondness in his green gaze before turning on his heel and sweeping out of the hospital room that looked just like all the other ones. The same white walls, the same window shades, spotless sink and counter, organized medical supplies lining the walls... the obvious sanitized smell of disinfectant.

Yes, he half fled from the hospital room that looked just like all of the other rooms in the hospital. He fled from what he found in that particular hospital room. The one person that managed to worm her way to his heart and melted it's icy exterior to reveal something that Gaara never thought he would find.

Subaku no Gaara half fled from the terrifying new discoveries the blonde evoked unknowingly and unintentionally.

And Subaku no Gaara couldn't bring himself to hate her for it.

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto found, the next morning, that she absolutely _loathed_ the sun. She _loathed _it's bright shininess, she _loathed_ it's cheerful awakening, she _loathed_ how it mocked her, taunted her with doing a disappearing act behind a cloud, only to reappear and _mock_ her some more. What's more, she absolutely _loathed_ mornings.

She wanted to _sleep_ dammit!

Sighing, Naruto gave up her comfortable position and looked up at Kurome, whom had a very amused expression on his scaly face. Scowling, she stuck her tongue out playfully and carefully sat up, aware of Kurome's long body wrapped around hers.

She had just gotten comfortable when a knock sounded at the door and Jiraiya waltzed in with a scowling Tsunade right behind him. In Jiraiya's large hands was a brown bag with a overly large and curvy 'M' on the side she could see, and by the near murderous expression on Tsunade's face, the old man was not supposed to have whatever it was in the hospital.

Much less near Naruto.

But the old man remained blissfully oblivious of Tsunade's rapidly growing glare -or he just refused to acknowledge it on purpose- and handed Naruto the bag with a large grin on his face. But the blonde refused to take it, casting her eyes towards Tsunade in silent permission. She knew better than to take anything from the ero-sennin without Tsunade around. Kurome was an exception.

After a moment of glaring at Jiraiya, who was still ignoring her, she nodded towards Naruto with a smile on her face. The smile made her look years younger, and as Naruto took the bag, she said absently, "You should smile more often, baa-chan. It takes years off your face."

The blonde looked curiously into the bag, completely missing the surprised looks of her guardians at her statement. She found a few large fries and a whole whack of burgers that smelled heavenly. Mouth watering, she ignored the fries and pulled a burger out, unwrapping it as fast as she could and digging into her breakfast.

Okay, scratch her previous statement. She _loved_ mornings. They were now her favorite part of the day. She just _loved_ how the sun shone brightly and played hide-and-go-seek with the clouds.

Oh god, the burgers were like heaven. They smelled like heaven. They tasted like heaven. She _must_ be in heaven.

It was official, she died and went to heaven. And she found she really didn't give a shit as long as there were an unlimited amount of the heavenly burger up there with her.

"See? I told you she still liked them, Tsunade-hime. You worry too much."

"It's not like I was worried about her not liking them. I'm more worried about her _health_. There's a _reason_ that the hospital makes it's own food and feeds it's own patients, Jiraiya."

"You worry... too much... baa-chan. These... are so good...." Naruto said in between bites, sending both of them wide grins to show her happiness. A small pile of burger wrappers were accumulating on the floor next to the bed, another one tossed carelessly as the blonde dug back into the brown bag to get another burger.

Tsunade seemed to battle with something in her own mind before she sighed and smiled fondly, amusement dripping from her as she watched the pile grow. The last burger in the bag went straight to Kurome, without hesitance and without second thought. Almost natural. She unwrapped it for him and allowed him to eat it right out of her hand before pulling out one of the large fries and devouring it with a content smile on her greasy lips.

"Ero-sennin! It seems you _can_ do something right!" Naruto laughed, offering a fry to Kurome and shrugged when he refused, eating it herself.

Tsunade snickered at Jiraiya's forlorn expression.

* * *

Kiba stuck his head into the hospital room that had become Naruto's temporary home, much to her displeasure. Akamaru was obviously under his jacket, if the minute rustling was anything to go by. Naruto smiled at him and waved him in, in the process of feeding Kurome.

She had been feeling a lot more confident, despite her amnesia and she felt that she was ready to go back home. She was always feeling an intense dislike for hospitals and the longer she stayed in one, the more restless and spiteful she became.

But today Naruto only felt happy. She couldn't explain it, she just felt happy; like nothing was going to ruin her day. And dammit it, whoever did better know how to _run_.

"Hey, Naruto! Feeling better?"

Naruto glanced at him, her whole face glowing with the happiness she was feeling, "Yeah, actually. I feel like I'm top of the world and kicking perverts down the side of my mountainous throne."

Kiba laughed, letting Akamaru out of his jacket. The puppy immediately jumped onto Naruto's bed and sprawled on the blonde's lap with a cute wag of his tail and his lolling tongue. She rolled her eyes; really, he didn't have to look so damn adorable to get her attention.

"That's good then. When is the hag gonna let you leave?"

Naruto pet Akamaru with one hand and fed Kurome with the other, "When she realizes I'm not made of glass."

"Ouch. Good luck, bro. That's all I can say." Kiba shrugged, offering a sheepish smile while sitting down in the chair next to the blonde's bed. Naruto just smiled at him in thanks, albeit a slightly sarcastic one, but a thanks nonetheless.

"I can't believe how Akamaru took to you so quickly. He usually tries to bite everyone's fingers but mine and even my closest friends still can't pet him. It's so weird."

"Baa-chan told me that my dad had a special touch with animals, and my mom was a veterinarian, so it's in my blood. Or so she says, anyway. I really wouldn't know." Naruto shrugged, patting Kurome on the head while simultaneously scratching Akamaru behind the ear.

"Whoa. That's cool." Kiba said earnestly, leaning over to pet Akamaru in his favorite place; just under his chin. He always turned into a puddle of goo when scratched in that particular place. And this time was no different.

"How come the others haven't come to see me?" Naruto asked, looking at Kiba curiously.

Kiba grinned awkwardly, "Well, we're all kind of scared of the hag, so we weren't going to risk her wrath by coming back until we knew for certain you were doing okay. I'll tell them after I leave that it's all clear for visiting."

Naruto laughed, "You're scared of _baa-chan_?! That's utter bullshit, Kiba. She's harmless!"

"To you, maybe," Kiba sulked, slumping in the uncomfortable chair. "But the rest of us have a healthy sense of survival. Unlike a certain blonde that shall remain nameless."

Naruto blinked, "Temari?"

Kiba just sent her a dark look and Naruto laughed again.

"What's this about a hag, Inuzuka?"

Kiba paled dramatically, eyes wide and terrified as he turned slowly to greet a very amused buxom honey blonde in the doorway. He stuttered for a moment, clearly at a loss for words and Naruto, unable to stop laughing, decided to take pity on the poor dog lover, "He means it in the nicest way possible, baa-chan."

"I'm sure." Tsunade replied, amusement dripping from her mouth in rivulets. Kiba gained back a little of his color as he nodded vigorously. He then stuttered out a pathetic excuse to Naruto, grabbed Akamaru hurriedly and rushed out of the room, casting a terrified farewell over his shoulder. Naruto sent a glare at the honey blonde.

"Now look what you did! I was enjoying his company, you know! The first time in weeks I see any of my friends and you chase him away! I think you do it on purpose you old hag." Naruto crossed her arms, a pout on her lips.

Tsunade smirked almost lazily, effortlessly ignoring the jab at her age. She was used to them by now, "I guess you don't want to hear the good news then. Oh well, I was sure you were looking forward to hearing it too."

Naruto suddenly looked eager and she put on her puppy dog eyes full blast. She didn't even need to utter a sound, Tsunade put up a fight for all of two seconds and she caved in.

_Every damn time!_

With a quirk of her lips, Tsunade said, "After a few weeks of observation, I have decided that you are well enough to leave the hospital and come back home. Yes," she held up her hand, stalling any statements, accusations and questions. "I know it's an abnormally long time to keep a patient in for amnesia, but since you were attacked prior to getting it, the police had to do some snooping about the place to try to locate your attackers. They weren't found, but they did deem it safe to go back only half a week ago and I've been too busy to come and tell you before."

Naruto mulled over the new information and a spark of happiness made it back on her face; _finally!_ She was going back home! She didn't need to stay in this hospital room any longer! She-

"Of course, since I haven't had the time to pack any of your stuff or deal with any of the papers, you'll have to stay one more night while I get everything ready."

And just like that, her happiness was knocked out and happinaped. In it's place was disappointment.

_Hello, disappointment!_

_Greetings._

_Have you seen happiness anywhere?_

_Nope, can't say I have._

_Pity._

"You sure know how to wreck a mood, baa-chan." Naruto stated, staring moodily out the window. She only heard an amused chuckle from the doorway before Tsunade left the younger blonde to her musings.

_I hate hospitals._

* * *

**Ah, well, I really feel like I should be hiding at the moment, but I feel all my dear readers have the right to throw tomatoes at me. Just... not potatoes, okay? -rubs head- those things hurt. Well, if their mashed, I don't mind so much ;D**

**Anyway, I'm really, deeply sorry about my lack of updates. Anyone of my readers that are authors themselves know the devastating impact writer's block has on one's writing skills. It wasn't until I read a **_**really**_** good fic (Death Note, incidentally; ironic) and a whole bunch of ideas popped into my head and well... three quarters of this chapter was the result. To any of my dear readers that may have been paying particularly close attention to my writing style (I like to flatter myself, bite me) it's been changing a lot. The last chapter was a bit more like those cheesy romance novels that have lots of big words to describe a single scene and this one... well, I don't know about this one... -stares at the screen, biting thumb absently-**

**What's most ironic about my interest in the Death Note fandom, is that I seem to have developed the habit of biting my thumb much like L. And I never seem to catch myself until my thumb starts hurting -.-;**

**Hopefully, I need not wait more than half a year just to update. Hopefully, I can just get this story done with soon and not fall under the thrall of writer's block again (it's irritating and it's pissing a lot of my reader's off) and for those who like vague spoilers; this story will NOT be going beyond fifteen chapters. If I have to make my chapters longer, so be it, but it will be finished before then. Actually, the plot will be moving forward rapidly and a lot of the in-between will be missing (as in, a lot of days will go by without me mentioning, so be forewarned). So for those looking for action, action (and romance, I love GaaNaru XD) you will be getting.**

**Whew! Long author's note. Hopefully, there won't be further need for much more of these, ne?**

**It's just too bad I don't really put much stock into hope these days.**

**-RuneNeko**

**P.S. Feel free to not review. I don't particularly deserve them at the moment -sweatdrop-**


	9. With Me

**Surprise! xD**

**I got this done pretty fast 0.o; but I'm sure it's going to make a lot of you pretty damn happy, no? This time, though, I didn't have the motivation from a fic, it just appeared on it's own! I was like, wooooow...**

**But anyway, this is a make up gift to you all. I wanted to get it out quick to you since I had taken a looooooong time just to update earlier and what better way than to write a nice, long chapter full of fluff and bonding! To those who like JiraTsun pairings, there's a good bit in here. And to you salvitating GaaNaru fans, I'm getting there!**

**Oh yeah, the quotes are NOT mine! I just came up with them at a whim, so you can go ahead and take them if you want.**

**Enjoy!**

Summary: In cyberspace, she is known as Kyuubi, the only hacker in the world who was able to hack into Area 51's top secret files, and not get caught until just before she completely withdrew from their servers. Many groups of dangerous people are desperately trying to find her real identity, but she wears many masks. Her new high school won't know what hit it.

Pairings: GaaNaru. Onesided SasuNaru, KibaNaru, ItaNaru, SaiNaru, NejiNaru.

Other pairings: ShikaTema, ChouIno, JiraTsun.

Future pairings: KibaHina, NejiTen, IbikiAnko, AsuKur.

Warning: This story is rated M for coarse language, content not suitable for younger audiences.

Disclaimer: If I don't say this, Kishimoto would sooo sue my ass. So, sadly, or unsadly, depending on the person, I don't own Naruto.

Notes: I do not know if some of the stuff in this chapter is actually fact. So, I'm happy that its fanfiction and not Wikipedia.

Side Note: Nobody but Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Naruto knows who Kyuubi really is. That fact was not revealed during the investigation/interrogation when Orochimaru and Kabuto were imprisoned, and when Naruto was interrogated afterwards.

Side Note2: Aoiro is a real person, just has a different name. She takes on the personality of my best friend, who requested I integrate her character into the story as one of the hackers. Which hacker, you'll soon find out.

Side Note3: There are a lot of changes to Naruto's overall character and personality since her memory loss. So, don't be entirely surprised by what you find. Amnesia, to my knowledge, is just as crippling as losing an arm or leg. Some people lose their entire identities, their entire lives and most do not completely recover.

"I'm speaking here!" – talking

'I see dead people.' - thinking

I'm a monkey's aunt – narrating

_I don't care who you are – memories/flashbacks_

"_You_!" – emphasis on words/yelling

"This is so lame." – online chatting/information

Review Feedback:

.Insanity - I will, most definitely. And there is a really good reason I made her lose her memories. I just have to reveal it, lol. xD Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

ObiriSakura - Wow, thanks! And I don't think I'll be getting writer's block for this for a while yet. Lots of good ideas are coming in and it's a wonder I'm able to get them all straight. Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter!

IXLoveXGaaraXNaruto - I'm glad you like it so much, here's the next chapter! Yes, it's inevitable that she get's her memories back. And thank you; I'm a girl myself, even though most of the time I don't act like one. ^ .^; Thanks for the review.

Kyuuki-sama - Hehehe, you ARE trying to figure it out. I'm glad! xD you'll find it, somehow. For crying out loud, I found mine by reading Death Note! Lol. Worlds apart, those two. And I am! This chapter is proof that I am! Enjoy and thanks for the review!

Black-Bone Reaper - I wasn't expecting it either, so you aren't the only one. That part wrote itself, I'm telling you that now. And thanks, I'm trying to stay positive and well, all the reviews I got are keeping me in cloud nine -sighs happily- thanks for the encouragement and the review. Enjoy the chapter!

Usa-san - -sweatdrops- uh... I sowwy? I know, I'm really, really sorry about the delay in updates. Thanks, though right at the moment I ain't feeling like I deserve it, lol. And I didn't! -holds arm in hair with forefinger standing straight up- I didn't make you wait another half a year! The next chapter... is right here! Enjoy, Usa-san-chan!

Jesi -the immortal warecat- - oomph! -starry eyed- wow, that was epic. Lmao, nice bit of philosophy there. And yes, I'm back. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

DarkRavie - Not much happens in this fic, but it was necessary to move the whole story on. Lots of action in the next chapter, sorry! Thanks for the review.

itachisgurl93 - lol, I don't think anyone wants to lose their memories! No problem; enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review!

Xeno Major - Thankies! xD that's an interesting way of putting it. I have to admit, I wasn't even thinking about it. It was more the, "What the heck am I going to say to a girl who lost her memories that she's my best friend and I might feel more than friendship for her?!" kind of thing. Thanks for reviewing and enjoy the chapter!

**

* * *

**

.:'With Me':.

_Itty bitty kitsune, you will always be mine,  
__My presence will constrict you, bind, bind, bind.  
__Poor little kitsune, my shadow looms near,  
__I'll take away everything you hold dear._

* * *

Setting her bag on the familiar, but unfamiliar bed, Naruto looked around her supposed 'room' curiously. Though, through her still blank, but not entirely mind, the room didn't seem to match her personality at all. It was like walking into another person's room after several years and finding it the same as it was before, though the person sleeping within certainly changed. It just didn't _match_, and Naruto was determined to redecorate.

Well, if indeed, it _is_ her room and Tsunade and Jiraiya weren't trying to pull her leg.

She watched Kurome slither into his aquarium for a much needed nap. His departure made her feel a little lonely, but she resolutely squashed it.

Sighing, her blue eyes scanned the room once more, taking in the dark, gloomy shades on the walls and the black curtains hiding the sun's playful fingers behind black material. A giant aquarium was built right into the house, she was told, and there was a hatch at the other side. The walls were covered in strange posters of bands and games, manga characters and weird sayings in kanji were everywhere.

_Remembrance is the doorway to the future._

_Hiding in the past blocks the path back to the present._

_If you have the strength to run from your problems, you have the strength to face them._

_Cowardice is only a front to great courage._

She couldn't make out the other ones, because they were either covered by a poster, picture, or simply a curtain that hung from the room for some reason or other. Her giant queen sized bed was foreboding and the closed laptop at her black painted mahogany desk whispered things that she didn't want to hear.

Her 'room' was as foreign to her as everything else.

Feeling a bit unsure, she picked her bag back up and backed out of the room. She closed the door softly behind her, as if trying to leave whatever spirits inhabited the room undisturbed. Because there _were_ spirits in that room. They were indistinct, only the vaguest of outlines; but she felt that she knew them as they moved about like they had a purpose, like they were _living_ and not dead.

With barely a whisper from her bare feet on carpet, Naruto tip-toed back to the living room where she knew her guardians were.

_Guardians._

It was kind of strange to hear that word from their lips when she inquired. They said it hesitantly, as if afraid or wary of her blowing up from them just _acknowledging_ it. It strange in itself, and though she knew she was overusing that term, no other word seemed to do it justice.

Just what kind of person was she before? Did she not appreciate how thoughtful and lively her guardians were? Did she have some sort of spat with them everyday to put them on edge? Or maybe she never felt very comfortable around them and took her discomfort on the nearest human source -them? The more she thought about her lost life, the more she felt uncomfortable with the idea of regaining it. Tsunade and Jiraiya were great in themselves, always trying to make her stay in the hospital as comfortable as possible and giving her company even though she _knew_ they had better, more important things to do.

Something was obviously missing. If she _was_ some kind of... delinquent -she didn't know how to deal with that kind of look on her- then what made her be that way? Obviously, from the way she is now, it couldn't have been just teenage rebellion. And from how much they expected her to deviate, it had to be going on for much longer than her simple teenage years.

From what she learned from the books they brought her from time to time -any technology other than cell phones were not allowed in the hospital, for emergency purposes- she learned that teenage rebellion usually didn't start until a person was nearing the middle of their adolescence. The teenager would gradually go from all out admiration of their parents or guardian to developing much different thought processes about the world and life in general. They wouldn't think their parents were all that awesome anymore, they wouldn't think that anything drastic could happen to them. Heck, teenagers believed, in general, that they were invincible to the darkest corners of life.

Naruto simply didn't know if she thought that, for it never really crossed her mind and she didn't think she really should count herself a part of the teenage masses. She had amnesia; surely that counted for something? She could not truly be herself until she had her memories back.

_Memories are a maze of images. One can get just as lost in the complications of their mind as they can in an actual maze._

She blinked, coming to an abrupt stop just at the corner of the hallway that led to the livingroom and kitchen. Where did _that_ come from? It sounded like something off the walls of that room, but she could only properly see a few, and the nearest any of them came to remembering was the clearest one across the room, shimmering across the wall in silver paint or ink.

_Remembrance is a doorway to the future._

She knew, in some way, that those quotes from some unknown, obscured people were an important part of her past, but she could not _possibly_ think-

"Naruto?"

She snapped her head up, looking at Jiraiya blankly for a few moments. Then, her mind caught up with her motor movements and she smiled at the older man, "Sorry, ero-sennin, just thinking."

He smirked, humour sparkling in his black eyes, "I thought I smelled something burning."

"Oh," she replied cooly, giving him a smirk in return. "That wasn't me, I'm afraid. There's smoke coming out of your ears."

He guffawed, clapping a hand on her shoulder as he laughed. Naruto grinned, eyes closed as she giggled along. Tsunade called in from the kitchen, "You're losing more than your touch, Jiraiya."

He shot a dark look in the direction of the kitchen and Naruto only laughed, adjusting her bag slightly. The movement caught his eye.

"Didn't you see your room?"

"Yeah..." Naruto replied, shifting uneasily from foot to foot. Jiraiya inwardly frowned at the new habit she developed. "It doesn't... feel right."

"Feel right?" Tsunade echoed, leaning against the corner of the wall. Her amber eyes were fixed worriedly on Naruto's nervous frame.

Naruto nodded, looking up earnestly, "It feels... dark, almost. Like..." she cast about for a suitable description. "... like someone went in there while I was... away and mixed everything up."

Jiraiya and Tsunade exchanged glances as Naruto continued, "So I was wonder if it really is my... room. Or if you two are playing a sick joke on me."

"We'd never do that to you, Naruto," Tsunade said firmly, crossing her arms and scowling like such an idea was absurd. Jiraiya nodded to what Tsunade said, only to scowl when she added; "Maybe Jiraiya would, but not I."

Naruto laughed unwilling at that.

Jiraiya then looked serious, "That was your room, Naruto. Before you were... well, attacked, for lack of a better word. But if you feel uncomfortable with it, you can always redecorate. We'd be more than willing to buy you what you need."

Tsunade nodded, standing away from the wall and taking a few steps towards her. Naruto only scratched her cheek in indecision on the matter.

"I'm started to feel like a burden."

Tsunade's amber eyes burned a furious gold and she grasped Naruto's thin shoulders roughly, intending on informing the girl _exactly_ what she thought about that little bit of self-hatred when the unexpected happened.

Everything slowed down; seconds became hours and minutes became days. The moment those strong, agile hands arrested Naruto's petite shoulders, instinct and muscle memory kicked in. It was like filming something in real time and slowing it down five hundred times, watching every second melt into minutes and the action slowed so much that everything blended together at once.

Except, Jiraiya swore for those few seconds, he saw the shadow of someone once dear to him loom over the petite figure of the teenage girl he had come to love like a daughter, yellow eyes _glowing_ with malevolence and long, shadowed tongue whipping out, striking with lightening fast precision on his hapless enemies.

Tanned arms flashed straight up, dislodging the constrict hands on thin shoulders, and grasping the wrists in a bruising hold despite muscle loss during the stay in the hospital. Without further preemptive, despite the stunned widening of bright amber eyes lined with eyeliner, much smaller tanned hands twisted around with it's joined body, pulled viciously on the imprisoned arms and hauled the much larger, much more dense body of the older adult over the once grasped, petite shoulders of the teenager acting on hard trained, ingrained muscle memory.

Tsunade was vaulted head first over the smaller Naruto and crashed into the side of the couch, in which abruptly moved into the entertainment center and everything trembled for five, terribly, horrifyingly long seconds before time stilled completely. Wide blue eyes, empty of all thought and morals during the execution of the manoeuver, were dead as they stared at the prone body of her guardian. Then, as time continued as if nothing had occurred, those wide blue eyes widened further, the pupil dilating until they were no longer visible among the vast plains of deep sky blue.

Naruto began to tremble, almost unnoticeably as she stared at Tsunade, who was groaning from being thrown across the room by someone nearly three times smaller than she. Besides her bruised ribs, she wasn't injured. Only her pride and dignity decided to dig their own graves and wave a solemn goodbye. She waved back.

"I-I-I... I..." Naruto shook her head, eyes shut in horror at what she had just done. At would _could_ have happened.

Jiraiya wrapped his large arms around Naruto's visibly trembling frame, engulfing her in warmth and stability while she sobbed on his shoulder. He was looking over at Tsunade, not bothering to offer a remark or inquiry on how she was. Though the woman was a world renown doctor and had a strength and confidence most do not achieve in their lifetimes, she had a very low tolerance to physical pain. If she was in any sort of pain worthy of medical attention, she would be voicing it.

Tsunade simply laid there for a few minutes, ignoring the twinge of discomfort her ribs were poking at her for the pressure that they felt they did not deserve. She was just so completely speechless. She knew, without a shadow of a doubt that Naruto was highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and she knew, better than anyone would ever think, how far Orochimaru would go to ensure the completion of one or more of his goals, but she was so utterly _stupid_, _moronic_, completely _retarded_ to forget, even a second, that just because Naruto did not remember anything didn't mean her _muscles_ had forgotten too.

She was a _doctor_ for God sakes; she had diplomas in just about every field of the medicine world, she was world renown for her miracles in the surgery room and her loss tally was legendary.

So how was it that in the span of a mere three seconds, the best doctor in the _world_ would completely forget everything she ever learned on her passion in the presence of one, troubled and haunted little girl?

The sobbing coming from Jiraiya's slightly hunched form was silent now, and the man carefully picked up the worn out girl, turning to give a _look_ to Tsunade before disappearing down the hall. She sighed and picked herself up off the carpeted floor, wincing slightly at the angry twinge her ribs gave her in protest to the movement. At least they weren't broken.

_Though they could have been_, her traitorous brain whispered to her. She ignored it.

She put the kettle on the stove, fixing a tray for tea before seating herself at the table of the spotless kitchen. Her amber eyes drifted lazily over everything, barely taking any details of how... utterly _fake_ everything was. The appliances shone with an unnatural gleam and the counter tops were dulled mirrors. The doors were a bright, almost chirpy white and the polished handles sparkled. The floor, smooth brown floorboards were waxed and uncuffed, also gleaming unnaturally in the bright sunlight that filtered down from the open and spotless windows, not a smudge in sight. The stove and refrigerator, unmarred and undecorated, were so shiny, they literally sparkled.

Tsunade realized with a start that the kitchen looked like someone with Obsessive Cleaning Disorder went through it. And it was painful when she realized it had been this way for a while now. She knew she didn't have it, OCD, but it is plausible that she developed it as a way to deal with how Naruto was before. Though being sanitary was part of her life, as she was a doctor and what kind of doctor passes on potential life risking bacteria, she was never quite like this.

Did Orochimaru's dark taint on Naruto really have that much of an effect on her mind? That, instead of directly facing it like she did every challenge that rose to her attention, she used cleaning and avoidance of the actual problem as a way to deal with everything? She realized that even her nails were spotless, prim and expertly kept. Her fingers and hands were germ free, as far as she knew, and her clothes were always a blinding white.

Frowning, she thought back to her high school days, remembering the vast shades and colours she wore in her youth. Where taking drugs was a norm and dying of alcohol related problems were a common gossip topic. She hadn't liked white back then, she actually abhorred it even though becoming a doctor was her life goal, one that she always swore she would fulfill, no matter what. Doctors were the very picture of white; sanitary was white, life was white, a miracle was white stained with the red life blood of a patient that would live to see the next dawn.

She wore the very colour that she hated when she was younger and she couldn't seem to find the turning point in her life where she ceased to care. Dan, her first lover, had loved white. _"White,"_ he told her once. _"Is the very core of Jesus. It symbolizes his purity to the world he cared and died for. On that wooden cross to which he was staked, he wore a robe of white and a crown of thorns to show his life sins and retributions. And though he would die, he did not forsake his beliefs. For that, he ascended to the heavens, so white and gold in it's splendor, where he would sit with God to watch and protect us, just like he had before his death._"

"_How could you possibly know this?" Tsunade asked in amusement, resting her head on his chest, closing her eyes as she listened to the beat of his heart. "You've never been there before."_

_He chuckled, the vibrations travelling through his bare chest and into Tsunade's very being, "I know because it is what I believe. White is a little piece of heaven and the gold..."_

_Tsunade looked up at him, amber eyes questioning. He brought his free hand up, softly caressing her face with a far-away, but loving look in his eyes. "The gold?" She prompted when he didn't continue._

"_What would heaven be like if it wasn't graced with the beauty and reverence of your soulful golden eyes?" He asked softly, pulling her into a soft, passionate kiss. Her heart bled, not with the blood of her veins, but the love of the man she had given her heart and more to._

But was his love of white really what changed her perspective of it, or was her need of his guidance, even after death, that she needed when Naruto so suddenly sprung into her life? She knew she would always need Dan, and Nawaki, but as she looked up at the man that stole her heart so long ago, staring at her from the corner of the hall between the kitchen and the livingroom, the memories of them didn't hurt so much. She smiled at the bad memories as much as she did the good memories, knowing better, now, that every memory she had was important.

In the wake of someone precious to her losing more than their memories, but their very identity, Tsunade was filled with a sense of peace for the first time in a very long time. It was the daunting deaths of her two most precious that kept her from enjoying life, but now, thinking back upon them, she did not feel the hurt as she usually would. She only felt the hole that was in her heart slowly filling with Jiraiya.

She smiled at him suddenly, so very filled with love and devotion to the man she married, but had not truly appreciated. It knocked him off guard for a moment, having not been graced with such a powerful outlet of emotion, but composed himself and made the intending tea without being asked. With deft, if beefy hands, he plucked the lowly whistling kettle from the stove, turned the knob to shut it off and poured the boiling water into the glass kettle, allowing the leaves to sit while he set the kettle back on the stove and moving the tray back to the table. Then, without prompt and ease of years and years, he poured the tea into the two awaiting cups without spilling or wasting a drop.

He looked up into warm gold, a thousand unsaid words exchanged silently while the tea slowly cooled without being touched. The sun slipped beneath the horizon without their notice and the shadows cast by the new moon were sharp and precise, changing the world from bright and cheery to dark and bitter, a new world that stays unexplored and unexplained.

But to the two sitting at the table with cold tea between then, the darkness only enhanced what was being said that a voice could do no justice for.

---

Bleary eyed and pleasantly warm, Naruto awoke from her rapidly retreating dream to stare at a ceiling that was completely unfamiliar to her. Panic vaulted into her throat; where the hell was she?

A soft snore sounded to her left while a snort cut over it to her right and she looked in both directions to find herself sandwiched between her guardians. Tsunade had an arm loosely wrapped around Naruto's waist while her free one was laying limply on her side, and Jiraiya's arm acted as Naruto's and Tsunade's pillow, his free arm languidly place over and across his stomach.

Her initial panic died away and the entirely pleasant feeling of _security_ wrapped around her core. Even in the hospital she hadn't felt so safe.

And feeling safe was nice.

Sighing in content, she snuggled back into the warmth she was certain, _absolutely certain_ she had never felt before. Nothing tugged at her mind, nothing felt familiar. It was an entirely new experience and even though she shouldn't have known the difference between the two, it was too liberating to be anything but.

_Liberating_.

That word struck a cord, but she didn't know if it was a good one or bad. It was a good word in itself, meaning freedom, elation at the very thought of being free from any type of imprisonment or cage, so she couldn't think of any reasons why such a word could be bad. She was _liberated_ from her previous conceptions of life, but did that mean she was _liberated_ from new ones that could be just as imprisoning as her previous ones? As soon as she gained an answer to one of her million questions in her head, a thousand more popped up. When was she going to satisfy her burning curiosity and when were her guardians going to buck up the courage to tell her? It seemed kind of unfair; they keeping her life from her like an adult would the cookie jar from a child.

She knew for a fact that she had never been a child.

A child was a person that had grown with the gentle guidance and encouraging faces of their parents. From the moment she heard that her parents died when she was one-ish (she kind of forgot when she was told, as she didn't particularly care) she had known, on some subconscious level, that she never had been and never would be a child. And to be treated as one, after so long, was both infuriating and humiliating. She just couldn't really figure out why it would be humiliating.

Anger stemming from misplaced injustice is normal. There was nothing humiliating from them keeping her past from her, as she perceived her past to be... less than pleasant.

So the question was; why did she find it humiliating?

She knew it was directly connected to what was 'missing' in the giant puzzle she found herself reluctantly trying to piece together. She knew on a personal level that she could never be a covert person, secretly relaying important information to the right people, but she knew she would be able to keep a secret even under the pain of death. She knew because it just sounded so... Naruto. Keeping something huge from anyone and everyone while placing a perfectly crafted mask to hide the slight slump of the shoulders that signified a heavy burden.

She just didn't know what secret she was supposed to be keeping.

Sighing again, she shifted into a more comfortable position. The light that poured in from the window was still pink and gold, so she knew that the time to wake wasn't for another few hours. She pushed her previous thoughts and still largely unfinished puzzle into the back of her mind as she settled back down for sleep.

---

"But baa-chan! This colour is so much better! It just _screams_ me! Come on!"

"I said no. I absolutely forbid that colour from reaching your walls."

"Oh come on! I mean, really, what's so bad about it?"

"_Black _would be ten times better than that colour, Naruto. No means no."

_Big puppy eyes and pout of dooooom._

A sigh, "Fine." Reluctant and completely unwilling.

"Yes! You're the best, baa-chan! Onward! To the furniture section!"

Tsunade and Jiraiya exchanged amused glances as Naruto happily plopped three cans of orange-red paint in the cart along with a smaller set of normal paints. They had no idea what she wanted to do with the other paint, but they did agree to buy her what she wanted for her room.

"Pretty soon, the dark and gloomy room you knew before will be just as it is supposed to be!" Naruto exclaimed, pumping a fist as she walked down the aisle with her guardians just behind her, watching on in amusement. "It just needs a touch of moi! Naruto the Awesome!"

"Awesome indeed." Jiraiya chuckled, shaking his head.

Tsunade smiled, "Indeed."

"Come on, you two! I know you're getting on in years, but it doesn't mean you have to walk like the elderly!"

A pair of growls, nervous chuckling, pounding feet and screeching tires was all that followed that particular remark.

~*~

"Jesus Christ, brat! Do you _really_ need all these _clothes_?!"

"Of course! You can't really expect me to dress in those emo clothes in my dresser, do you? I mean, the fishnet and combat boots are cool in all, but I'm not of a black person. I need more orange, dammit!"

"You have _plenty_ of orange already!"

"Yeah, I know baa-chan!" Blue eyes rolled. "I'm not stupid! I'm not really the person I was, so I need something that's more _me now_."

"I... suppose."

"I knew you would see it my wa- oo! Shiny!"

A groan.

~*~

"Ero-sennin, do you think this would make my butt look big?"

"W-_what?!_"

"Oh, you _are_ paying attention. I though your brain melted a little while ago since your drooling and all."

"Brat..." Threatening, no nonsense.

An innocent expression, worthy of a complete angel, "hm?"

A groan.

A wide, beaming smile.

~*~

"What do you think, baa-chan? This one or this one?"

"I don't _care_, gaki. Just get them _both_."

A cheerful voice chirped, "Okay!"

Two items thrown carelessly into the cart.

"Their not for me, anyway."

A curious look into the cart. Then...

"Gaki!"

"What?!"

"What the hell are these?!"

A bland look, "Their called g-strings, baa-chan."

Twitch.

"What? Ero-sennin said you didn't have any, so he had to take what he could get." A shrug.

Twitch. Twitch.

"What's going on?"

"_Jiraiya..._"

Nervous laugh, "Uh... yes, Tsunade-hime, my most beau- gack!"

Tinkling laughter in the background.

* * *

Twin groans.

"Oh, come on. Really! All you guys did was stand behind the cart and push! I'm the one carrying everything!"

Silence.

"You two are so sad. I'm the one sick and frail here and I'm the one stuck with everything. It hardly seems fair."

"Gaki."

"What?"

"Shut up."

"Okay!" Chirpy and cheerful, not a strain to be seen under all the bags.

Twin groans.

"I'm just going to put all this stuff in my room now. And since you two are so _lazy_, I'll cook supper."

Happy sighs. Melting into the couch now.

"Hmph."

* * *

"This is great, Naruto." Jiraiya complimented, cutting into his juicy steak.

Naruto beamed at him, her hair held up in a loose bun with some shorter strands framing her face, "Thanks! Truthfully, I didn't think I'd be able to cook anything."

The adults exchanged looks. They've overcame a great boundary in the last couple of days; a boundary that most couples never knew existed and even less reached. Fewer breached it and only a couple soared past it. They were of the precious little people in the world that soared passed that boundary and gained a new understanding in the world around them and in their life partner. The exchanges they made said everything without needing to open their mouths and voice it.

But, for the sake of the oblivious blonde eating with gusto, they both said in unison, "Us either."

Somehow, she managed to glare at them both at the same time.

* * *

Standing back, Naruto brought her arm up to wipe away the sweat that accumulated on her forehead, only to smear the fresh paint that had dripped onto her arm onto her head. Not caring, or just not noticing, Naruto admired her handiwork.

Her... 'room' was empty save for a few paint cans, some trays and a couple of different brushes. Over the carpet was a firmly placed plastic sheet to the paint wouldn't stain the material. The walls were reddish-orange that, when the sun shone in through the window and hit the wall, sparkled a bright, cheerful orange. She didn't touch the aquarium, but the top was firmly closed and the hatch at the other side was open to allow fresh, if cold crisp air in.

It was the start of December and Kurome was hibernating, as all snakes do when the cold settled in. There was a heater in his aquarium to keep him warm enough, but he was pretty lethargic when Naruto tried to spend some quality time with him.

She hadn't start school again yet, as she was steadily trying to build her confidence back, and both of her guardians know she didn't need to go back at all. But, before she lost her memories, she had been adamant about going to high school under the pretense of, "I just want go have a normal life for once. Is that too much to ask?"

But now, the only thing keeping her from completely abandoning the idea of high school were her friends. Kiba, Aoiro (the magneta blue haired girl came by after Naruto moved back into her house and introduced herself over again; Naruto couldn't believe that she had forgotten such a completely unforgettable personality and character), Hinata, Chouji, Shikamaru, Shino and even Temari had come to visit her since her esca- ahem, leave from the hospital and she couldn't bear to only see them every couple of days.

Currently, though, her guardians each had some pressing matters to attend to, so she was alone in the house. She had just finished painting the second coat on and now she just had to wait for it to dry. Smiling, she dropped the roller brush carelessly into the orange coated white pan before smacking her hands together, as if clearing her hands of imaginary dust. Then, she set her hands on her hips and said, "There! Much better!"

The strange sayings were no where to be seen, and that's how Naruto wanted it to be. The phantom people she had been seeing were still in the room, very transparent and very indistinct, but their whispering was too low for her to hear and she had the feeling that she should know what they were talking about.

Shrugging, she turned to leave the room, closing the door behind her so that the room could air out and the paint could dry in peace. Truthfully, it isn't a good idea to paint during the winter, even if it's inside, but she wanted her own room back without feeling like she was intruding on something not meant to be disturbed. It was frustrating enough that she couldn't remember the password to her computer, so she had been without the wonders of the internet she had heard so much about.

She padded into the clean, but homey kitchen, immediately feeling the difference from when she first walked after being discharged from the hospital and now. Then, it made her feel like a giant piece of dirt, so she tiptoed and changed her socks often to avoid disrupting the cleanliness. Then, a couple of days after the... Incident, as she calls it, it had slowly evolved into a kitchen that felt homey and inviting. It was so weird; she had been getting a strange, knowing feeling that the place was always spotlessly clean, but now... well, it looked like a kitchen that a family used.

Not like one with a person with OCD.

Naruto smiled, taking some chicken out of the freezer to thaw for a late supper -as she had a feeling that her guardians wouldn't be back until tonight- and had just put the kettle on to boil when three, concise knocks sounded from the front door.

She frowned; no one said they were coming over and her guardians wouldn't be back so soon. Slowly, she set the kettle on a cool burner and shut off the stove, grabbing the hidden bat between the stove and the 'fridge. She toed her way to the door through the living room, her bare feet not making a whisper as she went. She was too short for the eye-hole, so she settled with peeking cautiously out the window above the couch. The curtains were lace, and easy to see through, but she didn't want to take any chances. For all she knew, it could be the ones that attacked her.

All she could see was a scraggly head of red hair when another three, concise knocks sounded. There was no one else that she could see, so she hid the bat behind her left thigh and opened the door with her right, effectively hiding the weapon until she was certain she would need it. Paranoia be her middle name, but at least she wasn't going to be kidnapped again.

Sea-foam green eyes stared at her from the crack in the door, and she asked in a clear voice, "Can I help you?"

"Aa," the teenager said back, bowing slightly. "I'm Subaku no Gaara."

Naruto perked up, remembering the name from when Aoiro was visiting, "Ah! Gaara-kun!" She opened the door wider, smiling. "Please, come in."

He nodded, stepping into the house with a familiarity that came from many visits previously. Naruto was now certain that Gaara was who he said he was. He spotted the bat before she could keep it properly hidden though, and he quirked an nonexistent eyebrow at it in question.

She laughed nervously, "Well, I'm alone here and I didn't want to take any chances when I wasn't expecting anyone. Don't worry, I do it to Kiba-kun and them too."

Gaara nodded as Naruto swept into the kitchen, returning the bat to where it belongs and putting the kettle on to burn. Gaara put his shoes away properly and followed, looking around the living room and kitchen with barely veiled surprise.

Well, at least to Naruto's perceptive gaze.

"I know, hey? I thought someone with OCD was living here when I first came back, but after an... incident... yeah, an incident, it became what you see now. I don't even know what happened."

The redhead nodded, sitting down at the table while Naruto prepared tea, "Are you hungry? I'm sure you are. I'll just make some snacks then. So, how have you been since the... last time I saw you, Gaara-kun?"

She knew Gaara was sending her an amused smirk without even looking. Intuition, she chalked it to.

"I'm fine."

She nodded, finishing the snacks and setting them on the tray, and in one smooth move, grabbed the whistling kettle and gracefully poured the boiling water into the glass teapot. He watched, bemused about the emotions whirling in his gut and his chest, as she danced about the kitchen on springy bare feet, her loose but fitting dark navy sweat pants and orange tank shifting to and fro with the imaginary beat she was moving to. Finally, she lifted the tray from the counter and transferred it to the table, where she skilfully poured the hot tea into two cups, first Gaara and then herself and sat down in the chair closest to her.

He quirked another eyebrow at her, preparing his tea to his liking while Naruto did the same. She translated the movement correctly, as she had always been able to do when they had their one-sided conversations, "I'm fine. My head starts to hurt every once in a while, but their good headaches. I remember a little each time I get one."

His lip twitched at the corner.

"Oh, nothing much. Just inconsequential flitters of images that I can't make sense of at the moment."

He stared.

"Baa-chan said I would improve as time passed, but it's just frustrating to not know anything."

Both his brows raised minutely.

"She said she didn't mind it if I called her that, and I think it's a fitting name for her. Why? I didn't call her anything before?"

A nod and his head quirked to the side a bit.

"Wow. I barely ever call her Tsunade anymore. I like calling her baa-chan. Suits her better, in my opinion. Then again, I call Jiraiya ero-sennin."

A smirk.

"He dislikes that name outwardly, but inwardly, I think he likes it. But anyway, enough about me. I want to hear what you've been doing for the past few weeks."

So, he told her. Gaara told her how Sasuke had been down and depressed since she stopped going to school and not even his fans could get him to respond. Even if it was to run away from them. He told the blonde how well he had been getting on with his sister, but how stubborn his brother was being. He told her of his attempts to garner even a small friendship from Kankurou, but they weren't working too well.

He was interrupted when Naruto glared at her empty teacup with barely veiled contempt, "That asshole. He should value the blessing of a family. He should at least realize how hard you are trying, and at least be on speaking terms." She looked up at Gaara with glazed over eyes, loneliness hidden in their depths.

"He doesn't know what it's like to not have siblings."

He was quiet at that, not knowing what to say. But, she simply blinked a couple of times and smiled a wide, if a little forced, smile. He interrupted her when she was about to say something.

"Don't pretend to be happy when you aren't."

She blinked again, stunned momentarily before giving him a genuine smile, and he couldn't help but smile back.

* * *

After Gaara left -she had given him a impromptu hug and snickered at how stiff he was walking down the street- she cooked supper. Her guardians came back just as she was setting the table and they all sat down to eat as a family.

It felt like one.

Naruto was sure she hadn't felt the warm bubbly feeling in her chest often.

* * *

Kicking the bed into place, curses floated from the reddish-orange room of a certain blonde. She had just finished setting up the room a few days after she painted the walls and the place was looking good. Now, all she was missing were the newer posters she bought a while back and to put away her clothes. Then, everything would be set.

A while later, she left her brand new, renovated room for a glass of water. The football game on the television was blaring in the livingroom, so Naruto skirted into the kitchen to avoid having to watch the incredibly boring show. Tsunade smiled at her as she tossed the salad for dinner and the younger blonde returned it, "Done!"

"Great. Now make yourself useful and set the table, gaki."

She saluted, "Yes, baa-chan!"

Naruto set the table for three, and Tsunade put the food in the middle. She asked, "Do you want to go to school before the winter break, or do you want to wait until after?"

"You mean, I can go now?" Naruto snapped her head up, eyes wide and hoping.

Tsunade nodded, "Yes, you can. I don't think you have anymore issues with your confidence and the fact that you actually let that Subaku boy in without recognizing him says a lot."

"Everyone is familiar, baa-chan. It's just the familiarity I'm weary of."

"Ah."

"Tomorrow's Friday, so I suppose that if I go tomorrow, I'll have the whole weekend to decide." Naruto replied, sitting down. Jiraiya wandered in from the livingroom to sit in his normal chair. Tsunade sat in between.

"If that's what you want," Jiraiya donated. "I'll wake you up and drive you to school."

"Thanks ero-sennin."

* * *

**Ah, yes, a filler chapter to be sure. I couldn't get the urge to write out of my system, so this is the result. Everything should be moving forward next chapter, including the appearance of our favourite snake man! And Christmas! Yay! Christmas! Everyone loves Christmas. Aaaand the hacker Aoiro is will be revealed. Wow, lots of stuff!**

**Yes, so action, action, action! -blinks- wow, I've got a pretty strong urge to start the next chapter now. xD**

**The religion bit; I'm a Roman Catholic, my whole family is, but I'm atheist, so I don't know much about the bible but what I've picked up here and there. So, if I got any part of that wrong, please let me know. I don't want to offend anyone by showing my glaring obliviousness to the events in the bible. If anyone is offended anyway, just because I've mentioned Christianity, please, do not flame me. It was a passing thing, something that isn't likely to show up again. I do not want to deal with religious debates and open maliciousness at it. And I **_**know**_** there are people out there like that.**

**I've got lots and lots of plans for Naruto's amnesia. She isn't going to stay 'goodie two shoes'-Naruto forever. It's like, the amnesia is... well, what kind of author would I be if I revealed what I have planned, hm? xD**

**Oh yeah, Kurome plushies to those who can guess what the 'phantoms' are!**

**See you soon!**

**-Rune**

**P.S. Do I deserve reviews? O .O -blink blink-**


	10. Beauty School Dropout

**Well, I don't have an excuse. I'm not going to explain what happened, because really, I should have gotten this up a lot sooner. Hope you guys enjoyed it. There's a nice surprise as an apology for taking nearly a year. And there's no Kurome this chapter! Sorry all Kurome fans!**

**As part of my apology, this is ten solid pages. Meaning, no double spacing, no size 16. 10 solid pages of size 12 times new roman text is here. Hope you guys forgive me~**

**Oh yeah, since I don't speak French, please, excuse my... well, French.**

Summary: In cyberspace, she is known as Kyuubi, the only hacker in the world who was able to hack into Area 51's top secret files, and not get caught until just before she completely withdrew from their servers. Many groups of dangerous people are desperately trying to find her real identity, but she wears many masks. Her new high school won't know what hit it.

Pairings: GaaNaru. Onesided; ItaNaru.

Other pairings: ShikaTema, ChouIno, JiraTsun.

Future pairings: KibaHina, NejiTen, IbikiAnko, AsuKur.

Warning: This story is rated M for coarse language, content not suitable for younger audiences.

Disclaimer: If I don't say this, Kishimoto would sooo sue my ass. So, sadly, or unsadly, depending on the person, I don't own Naruto.

Notes: I do not know if some of the stuff in this chapter is actually fact. So, I'm happy that its fanfiction and not Wikipedia.

Side Note: Nobody but Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Naruto knows who Kyuubi really is. That fact was not revealed during the investigation/interrogation when Orochimaru and Kabuto were imprisoned, and when Naruto was interrogated afterwards.

Side Note2: Aoiro is a real person, just has a different name. She takes on the personality of my best friend, who requested I integrate her character into the story as one of the hackers. Which hacker, you'll soon find out.

Side Note3: There are a lot of changes to Naruto's overall character and personality since her memory loss. So, don't be entirely surprised by what you find. Amnesia, to my knowledge, is just as crippling as losing an arm or leg. Some people lose their entire identities, their entire lives and most do not completely recover.

"I'm speaking here!" – talking

'I see dead people.' - thinking

I'm a monkey's aunt – narrating

_I don't care who you are – memories/flashbacks_

"_You_!" – emphasis on words/yelling

"This is so lame." – online chatting/information

Review Feedback:

Winter's Black Chill - Thank you very much! I actually blushed when I read this! It made me so happy! And I think you'll like the outcome of her amnesia in a few chapters. And I'm really sorry for taking so long! Thanks for the review!

pirateXfangirl - ... you could say something like that, I suppose. If I say anymore, it'll give away the ending! Thanks for reviewing!

KoutaWolf - -scratches back of head sheepishly- I had intended on PMing you, but problems sprung up. It's actually a part of the reason I had taken so long to update. But don't worry about the 'bad-ass' Naruto, she'll be back. You _might_ like it, you _might_ not. But I hope you do! If you want to tell me, though, you can go right on ahead and PM me. Thanks for reviewing!

kin-kinna - no, _thank you_ for the review! And I don't know about any new stories at the moment. I'm having a hard enough time trying to get Desugakure and Eternal Love done just right.

Chibi Tsuki - your fairly close to what's going to unfold in the next few chapters. I think you'll like what I have in mind. And I love GaaNaru interaction too! You'll love this chapter! Thanks for the review!

bluestar756 - Don't worry, my legs were shaking xD Thanks for the threat!

KrystalRose18 - I have my ups and downs. Sometimes I'm absolutely descriptive and other times, I can't write at all. I didn't think much people would like the fact that I took away her memories, solely because she would undergo such a drastic change from the one thing everyone seemed to love to the one thing that everyone liked to avoid. There is a reason for her change! I hope you continue to read despite my misgivings about certain things.

And your advice was helpful. I took it to heart, but sometimes, I like to allow the reader to bring their own images to mind when reading. Sometimes, it just helps with the flow of the story if I'm not spending too much time describing one thing. And then moving on to describe another. Anyway, I hope I kept the other characters in, well, character! Thanks for the review!

Serenity - Why, thank you! And thanks for the review! I hope you like this chapter!

TheOneThatIsAddictedToHPfics - you really startled me when you informed of the correct meaning of OCD. I thank you for correcting me. However, as I had posted on every chapter, this is fanfiction, not wikipedia. I don't intend on researching every little thing to make sure that it's correct when I don't really need to. Despite this, if I ever intend on using anything like OCD again, I'll research it before writing about it. Thank you for the review and enjoy the chapter! xD

infinity demon - I hope you like the chapter then, for how long I made you wait! Thanks for reviewing!

CrimsontheBloodyDemonKing - I don't know. We'll just have to find out and see, won't we? xD Thanks for the review!

ObiriSakura - I know it was a bit boring, it was quickly written and mostly as a filler chapter anyway. And this time, it was not writer's block at all. It really touched my heart when you said that and all I have to say about it is; believe in yourself! If you don't believe in yourself before you believe in others, how can anyone count on you supporting them? I'm sure you can write a great story if you put your mind to it!

Oh, and you'll see about Naruto regaining her memories. She won't be very good for much longer, that I can assure you. Thanks for reviewing!

ShikiKira - that's actually a really good guess, but I'm afraid your wrong. Sorry! The phantoms _should_ be explained next chapter. If not, then the one after that. Guess again! That Kurome plushie is waiting for you! Thanks for the guess!

Usa-san - hm, hopefully, if you try and guess, it won't be so late. Think about it! The phantoms should be explained either next chapter or the chapter after that. One of the two, but they definitely will be revealed! That adorable Kurome plushie wants a home! xD Thanks for the review! Oh, and Usa-san is MUCH more respectable than Usa-chan... unless you were going for cute, lolz.

Black-Bone Reaper - don't be sorry, you should actually enjoy this chapter. I don't really like all the orange either. It was meant to cement that Naruto has a completely different personality and likes, dislikes, stuff like that since losing her memories. You should understand within the next few chapters, hopefully. And the paint WILL go, don't worry about that! Thanks for the review!

monkeysrockdude - Your not the only one that shares that sentiment. Hope you enjoy this chapter, despite it having a 'goody two shoes' Naru. Thanks for the review!

Kyuuki-sama - If you think your eyes hurt, my _head_ hurt just by writing it! But it needed to be done. Thanks for putting up with it! I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's is the beginning... of the end. Lolz. Thanks for the support and review!

OrangeLillyTemptation - you gotta guess if you want a Kurome plushie! Kurome wants a home, after all! -flashes Kurome plushie- look how lonely he is! xD I hope you enjoy this chapter after waiting so long! Thanks for the review! And it's nice to meet you, my name is Jennifer! xD I don't act much like a girl either. For crying out loud, I won't even wear a skirt!

The 2 crazy Kats- Mika and M.Z - oooooo! So close, but no game! Sorry, but try guessing again! You were so close to the answer! And I'm really glad you like it! I admit that I was too hasty in the first few chapters and I had thought, more than once, to revise it. What do you think? And I'm really sorry about the VERY late update! Thanks for the review!

Xeno Major - I did those transitions because I was too lazy to write out the shopping experience. I'm a girl that absolutely hates shopping with a passion. And I wasn't counting on anyone mistaking Jiraiya for Naruto, but I suppose he could fit the bill perfectly too.

I took into consideration your awesome advice, but when it comes to Gaara, I'd really have to say that him being shy is not his piece of cake. Nevertheless, I hope you like this chapter. It's mostly in his POV. And for the chatty thing? I would try it, if I were to revise, but right now, most of the action starts and the following chapters, there won't be a place for a chatty Gaara. Thank you so much for the advice and the review!

DarkRavie - I'm sorry it took so long to update, I hope you enjoy the chapter! Thanks for reviewing!

Incurable Spazz - o.0 you are _soooo_ close to the correct answer. Closest yet! Tweak your guess and try again! Kurome wants a good home! -flashes Kurome plushie- and at the moment, I can only imagine something along those lines. We're just gonna have wait and see what happens... though, this time, I'm hoping that the wait doesn't take another bloody year. Thanks for the review!

HopeInHell - Thank you! I love them too, I get to indirectly give out hints at what will happen! xD Hope you enjoy this chapter! Thanks for the review!

* * *

.:'Beauty School Dropout':.

_Itty bitty kitsune, your shattering into pieces,  
A broken puzzle, shattered glass, creases, creases, creases.  
Poor little kitsune, with your hot glue and gun,  
The broken shards of your life turn black and ashen._

* * *

Gaara could feel his heart pounding when he woke up that morning, several hours before dawn. The sky was pitch black, signifying the presence of thick storm clouds and he had a feeling that he wouldn't be seeing the sun that day. It was just as well, for Christmas was around the corner and today being the last day of school. If Naruto didn't show up at school that day, he probably wouldn't get a chance to see her until it started again.

And that thought alone made his stomach twinge in discomfort.

He thought back to his visit. He didn't know what prompted it. Heck, he didn't even realize he was at her house until he had looked up and found himself on her doorstep, ringing the doorbell. He knew a little about psychology (his uncle was a psychologist and liked to play mind games with his niece and nephews), so he basically blamed it on his subconscious urge to see the perky blonde again. It wasn't like he was intending on seeing her before she decided to go back to school, but like the incident at the hospital an eternity ago, nothing ever goes as planned and everything that can backfire, will backfire.

Even though it was a completely unplanned and unexpected freak of nature -he was willing to call it the 'Naruto Phenomenon', as there is simply no better word to perfectly describe the beautiful blonde than _phenomenon_- he played it was well as he could, though there were a few times where his heart was a beat away from jumping straight from his chest and glaringly announcing his growing crush. And there was times where he felt like he would melt right into the linoleum floor from sheer nerves. When he finally left, though, he never felt any more light than he did then. Not to be a cliched love sick teenager with way too many poetry books and Shakespeare laying around, but it felt like he was walking on clouds all the way home.

He shook his head with a slight frown on his face. What a _stupid_ thought.

Again, Gaara thanked his uncle's twisted ways of bonding over the years, for he managed to condition his facial features to perfection and find and perfect ways of properly hiding his body language. As sharp and witty as the blonde was sometimes -and _dangerous_, Gaara reflected after a pause- she was completely oblivious to everything around her. It was endearing and frustrating. Though Gaara was normally a very blunt person, finding lies a waste of time and breath and annoying by proxy because most of the time, the parties involved in lies would be crying around him, he had a hard time telling Naruto exactly how he felt about her. And as a result, found it hard to be himself -as if he would be anyone else; another waste of time- around her... or anyone for that matter.

A sigh escaped him as he got ready for school that day, a little grateful that his room was on the other side of the house from his siblings and uncle. If they had heard the sigh, he had no doubt they would be freaked. Well, they wouldn't really, but Kankuro would make a big deal out of it. He was so melodramatic sometimes. Scratch that, Kankuro was _very _melodramatic _all_ the time.

After his bathroom necessities were finished, he gathered his school stuff and left, grabbing a breakfast bar from the kitchen on his way out.

"Have a _good_ day, Gaara-chan."

The redhead didn't even acknowledge his uncle's words as he closed the front door behind himself.

Throughout the five block walk to school, he eyed the forbidding clouds above, a knot forming tightly in his stomach. He couldn't place it, but it seemed that something bad was going to happen today and it filled him with dread. Suddenly, he couldn't get to school fast enough.

Speeding up minutely -as he didn't want to ruin his reputation by _running_, of all things- he arrived at the school nearly ten minutes earlier than he usually did. The grounds were completely overrun with teenagers of every size, shape, colour, and height. Their clothes were all different varieties, from black goth to cheerleader white. The noise was almost deafening as he entered the grounds and he suddenly wished he hadn't sped up at all.

However, the moment he saw her, he snatched back his wish and tore it into billions of pieces.

A lot of people were staring at her -he, too, he noticed distantly- and for good reason. Before the incident, when she had been rebellious, angry, bitter and, well, dangerous, she had worn almost complete black. Black jeans, black shirt, black shoes, black _everything_. Now, though...

Well, it looks like she ran into a wall of orange paint.

There was _some_ black, but it was rather unavoidable because the black was _on_ the orange as decoration. But now... she looked... she looked... she looked_ bright_. Bright and orange and eye catching and it was like, oh my god, what the _hell_ happened to _you_? The sheer amount of orange was starting to give him a migraine and he suddenly wished he _didn't_ tear up that previous wish, if only to avoid the orange monstrosity standing in the middle of the school grounds. She didn't even look like she noticed how many people were staring at her.

She can't be that oblivious, can she?

Shaking his head, he was thankful that the school bell rang and the en mass students began the arduous task of squeezing into the front doors to get to class. He was even more thankful that he didn't have a class with her; in fact, Gaara didn't even feel bad about feeling that way. He was sure her parents felt the same way. It's all the _orange_.

However, now the day was almost unbearably slow. Normally, when he watched the clock when the class was boring enough to do so, the time passed at a normal rate, the _tick, tick, tick, tick_ nearly therapeutic. But now, as he watched, it was like every second was five seconds and every minute was five minutes and it just ended up being one long, extremely boring and frustrating few hours until lunch. The knot in his stomach only kept tightening, dread pooling in his gut and for some reason, his chest felt tight. When he entered the cafeteria and found himself sitting next to _Monstrosity de Orange_, he couldn't even think about trying to stomach something.

"Hey, you okay Gaara? You're looking kind of pale."

Turning his head towards the cheerfully bright blonde, he raised a sardonic eyebrow. She flushed lightly and pouted, crossing her arms over her chest petulantly. After staring at each other for a moment, she flushed darker and scratched her cheek sheepishly.

"Okay, okay. You look pale...-er," she surrendered, still looking concerned. "Well? Is there anything wrong?"

Gaara shook his head, "Iie, don't worry about it. I was just thinking."

Pushing her finger into her cheek, she opened her mouth to say something, only to be cut off.

"Oi, dobe. What the hell happened to _you_? Did you trip into the loser section of the clothes department?"

Turning, Naruto snapped, "No, _teme_. I was merely _hiding_ in plain sight." And a wide-eyed, surprised expression overcame her face. "Ano... do I know you?"

Gaara was staring at her in confusion, though barely anyone could tell, and wondering what just happened. Could she be regaining some of her memories or was that just something along the lines of muscle memory?

Sasuke looked openly surprised but quickly composed himself, sneering, "I should hope so, dobe."

Naruto turned to Gaara, visibly panicked, "Who the heck _is_ this guy?"

"Sasuke Uchiha. Feel free to ignore him, he's no one important," Kiba interjected before Gaara could even open his mouth. Kiba grinned, "He just likes to inflate his ego every chance he gets."

"Can it, you mutt."

"Ooo, like I haven't heard that one before. You've utterly failed in the originality department, Uchiha."

"At least I can say I tried."

"Are you...?" Kiba stood up, snarling. "Are you saying _moi_ is not _originale_?_"_

Sasuke smirked, "Your certainly stupid too."

"What the fuck did you say?"

"And deaf too? Tsk, tsk, mongrel. Thought bitches like you had advanced senses?"

"I ain't some fucking chick, dude!"

"Really? I was so sure that you just implied that you were."

"What the fuck does that mean?"

Rolling his dark, onyx eyes, Sasuke fake sighed in exasperation, "Next time, pay more attention in French. _Originale_ is a _feminine_ noun, you dolt."

"Why you-!" Kiba lunged at the smirking Sasuke, but didn't reach his prey. Shino wrapped a tight hand around his upper arm and didn't even twitch when the enraged brunet snarled, jerking every which way to get out of the hold.

Unbeknownst to the quarrelling two, the rest of the table had been watching the argument like a ping ball game. As one said something, they looked to the other and vice versa. It would have been hilarious if anyone had regained enough sense to notice. Alas, when Shino turned his attention to Sasuke, telling him off, the duck-haired teen turned to see a whole table full of eyes staring back at him.

"Hn. Whatever." And stalked away.

Naruto snorted a giggle, finishing her jell-o cup and pushing away her apple like it was some kind of disease. She stared at her empty ramen bowl with an air of extreme solemnity and Gaara knew it was time to pull her away before she could even think to lament about it.

Once they were outside, the strong winds tugged at their hair and clothes and the clouds rumbled forbodingly. Naruto didn't seem to notice but the sick feeling in his gut returned full force and he turned anxious -again, hidden, it wouldn't do to look _anxious_ of all things- eyes upon Naruto's frame, making sure she was still there. For some, unexplainable reason he knew that the source of it all was her.

"Wow, those clouds look angry."

Or not. He couldn't really rush when it came to his own emotions and feelings. He could just be over analyzing everything. Perhaps what he felt was just his body's way of telling him that he was in love? Boy, when people said love hurt, _they weren't kidding_. His gut felt like it was ready to jump right out of his body. Didn't people describe it as butterflies? God, some people were just masochists.

Suddenly, Naruto whirled around with a big smile on her face and grabbed his wrist. He couldn't even think before she was tugging him along, away from the school and into the vast grounds behind the school. There were clumped trees every odd 10 meters or so, bike racks filled to nearly overflowing with chained bikes, and benches everywhere. Right now, there were several dozen people out there, in trees and benches, some even sitting on the bike racks. Some were rough housing, there was a group down yonder that were huddled together, cards flashing briefly. There were plenty on skateboards, and even some with laptops, typing away furiously with their heads tucked against their chest.

Gaara could barely take everything in before Naruto was tugging at him again, pulling him through the throng of people and further towards the edge of the grounds where a tall oak tree sat. The tree was very old, but it still looked very healthy so it had to have a long time yet. As they neared the oak, Naruto let go of his hand and, very reminiscent of a monkey, she climbed up to the thick branches. She made herself comfortable in the crook of three thick branches, next to her, a stump of another branch that must have been cut off for one reason or another.

"C'mon Gaara!" Naruto called down, the grin ever present on her normally blank face. He felt his chest grow warm as the constriction eased a little. He found himself, as he climbed awkwardly, oddly hoping that she didn't regain her previous memories. While she had been an interesting person before, it was the light she exuded the rare times that really drew him to her. Now she was constantly bright, constantly smiling at him, giving Gaara the one thing that he had been seeking outside his family for as long as he could remember. Warmth. His world had been so cold and bitter until now. It was a wonder how he managed to live life before.

Delicately, while keeping a tight grip on a branch above, Gaara settled himself down as comfortably as he could beside Naruto, who had scooted over as he ascended to make room. Shoulder to shoulder, thigh to thigh, ankle to ankle, they sat there, silent as they watched the rolling clouds above. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of peaceful quiet -even the roar of the students closer to the school seem to oddly mute- Naruto broke the silence.

"Would it sound odd if I said that I feel like I know you from a previous life?" She was fiddling with the hem of her hideous orange shirt, still staring upwards, as if avoiding his eyes.

Gaara immediate answer was to say, _uh, no, you could never sound odd to me_ but that would sound completely stupid and stopped to actually think about it. Would it be totally out of this world to think that maybe they had met in some previous life? That they could have been friends or enemies? That reincarnation, despite his own personal beliefs, could actually exist and they were living some perverted life over and over again? Constantly meeting, going through life, dying and doing the whole thing over again for the rest of eternity?

"I believe it could be plausible," he answered instead.

"Hm..."

"Why?" He ventured, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. She shifted slightly, bringing her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

"It's just... even though I know I have missing memories and I'm not the person I had been and I'm hurting my friends because I can't _be_ the person I was, I feel like..."

He didn't say anything, waiting for her to sort out her thoughts.

"Well, I just feel like I know you from somewhere far away. Like, we met in some far off place, where things are different and... well, different. That we have something far more in common than just the visible things."

He could tell she was having a hard time articulating what she wanted to really say. He just couldn't understand what it was like to lose one's identity in one instance, having everything that made them, them, stripped away, leaving them in a wide open world that just doesn't understand. Couldn't understand. Probably never would understand. He couldn't imagine how hard it must be for her, to be one way, only to have people tell her, _no, that's not how you are supposed to be; your supposed to be _this_ way_. To look at her when she says something so completely out of character and have her falter, suddenly unsure of her place amongst them.

"It wouldn't be too unlikely that we did once upon a time," he replied, looking at her. Naruto looked back, her bright blue eyes so big and close that he suddenly felt like he could get lost in their depths, drown in the impossible crystalline staring back at him. "I mean, it's not like it's completely impossible."

She smiled then; not the big, ear to ear grin that she began wearing upon waking up to no memories, telling the world _that I'm A-oh-KAY!_ But a soft, quirked smile that reached her eyes without ever reaching her dimples. Gaara found himself staring openly for the second time that day, a record upon the first but now it was just ridiculous. Her whole, beautiful face just lit up, just like that. It was hard to not be amazed at such a change.

He was suddenly made aware that his heart was trying to jump out of his chest, to land in Naruto's lap and give itself up. That, no matter how their relationship evolved, she would always be his first love without ever getting to second base. It was silly, it was stupid, it was so completely out of character for him that he didn't hear what Naruto said next. In fact, it wasn't until Naruto waved a hand in front of his face that he came out of his self epiphany.

"Whut?" He articulated, a light coating of pink creeping across the bridge of his nose. That was completely embarrassing.

But Naruto only giggled, knocking him lightly on his head with her knuckles, "Earth to Gaara, come in Gaara! Central Command is not receiving your transmissions!"

He chuckled despite himself. She only smiled in return, removing her hand and setting back down on her lap. The redhead stared at it for a moment, realizing that he liked having her hand on his person. Without realizing what he was doing, he took her hand in both of his, pulling his knees to his chest so he could rest them on his kneecaps. Naruto looked at him in wonder but didn't pull away. On the contrary, she scooted closer, their sides pressed tightly together.

Their previous topic was left the way it ended, neither giving the other a single hint that that particular conversation could be continued. As they talked about little and a lot, their hands remained entwined, her smaller, softer hand surrounded by his larger, slight rough calloused hands. The sky remained the black that it had been, still rolling angrily but not a drop was surrendered. Like it was waiting for something to happen.

Gaara glanced at his watch, seeing that fifteen minutes remained to the lunch hour. He was so content that he almost forgot that they were still in school and the world still went round and round. That they both had a life they had to get back to.

"I don't want to go back to school. I don't _know_ those people who call me my friends, that say they know me. I don't know how to _act_ around them, I feel as if... that no matter what I do to prove that I'm not the other me, they still look at me as if I _should_ be... well, who they perceive as me," Naruto said suddenly, looking at the building beyond the trees. She looked so sad and lost that Gaara could help but put an arm around her shoulders and pull her close. Warmth bloomed in his chest, easing the rapidly receding tightness away when she rested her head on his shoulder, watching the sky like they had been while talking.

"You don't have to go back," he said, tightening his arm briefly like he had seen in some of the chick flicks his sister made him watch. It seemed to comfort her, so they had some credibility. "But I'm not sure how happy you'd be when the sky finally lets go of it's bladder."

Naruto giggled hysterically, her shouldered trembling with mirth. He smiled, happy that his lame joke cheered her up. When she calmed down, she smiled up at him, the same soft, quirky one from before. She looked at him with an expression he couldn't quite describe. He didn't think he wanted to describe it.

"Gaara?" Naruto asked softly.

He answered equally as soft, "Yeah?"

"I..." he was staring at her lips, as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. They _were_ the most interesting thing in the world. Whatever Naruto was about to say seemed lost as their faces drew closer and closer, like a positive attracting it's polar negative. With a fleeting hand upon her chin, cupping the flawless skin, they kissed.

It being his very, very first kiss, Gaara was at a loss of what to do afterwards. He couldn't even _think_ of what to do next. The chick flicks he had absolutely abhorred were now flashing in his mind. And instead of _thinking _of what they did, he just did. He pulled her closer -now she was practically sitting on his lap and he was _loving_ it- his hands in her hair like hers was in his and _felt_.

Her lips were slightly chapped but soft, pliant beneath his. Their lips moved in synch, but never did either of them breached, just basking in the warmth that flowed through both of them. Her scalp was clean, her hair silk. They breathed through their noses and broke away, panting only the slightest.

When he opened his eyes, he stared back into the blue that was staring at him. She had a dark dust of ruby red across the bridge of her nose and cheeks, her eyes shining like the sky on a clear day. He had no doubts that he had an equally dark blush but he welcomed it.

She opened her mouth to say something, but for the second time in less than an hour, she was cut off. This time, by the school bell that shrilled in the distance. At once, they turned their heads toward the sound and listened as it rang on until it died.

Naruto slumped when he attempted to get up and, wanting to stay with her for as long as possible, Gaara just sat back down and pulled her into his arms.

"What does this make us, Gaara?"

He thought about it, "I don't know. What do you want us to be?"

"Together. Naruto and Gaara," she answered.

"Oh? Not Gaara and Naruto?" He asked teasingly.

She poked him in the ribs lightly and he managed to control the cringe from his sensitive ribs, "Mou. How about Nara?"

"Ew," he said before he could control the urge. She giggled and he smiled.

"How about just, Together. Capitalized."

He looked down at her, "Sure. Together it is."

They had stayed in that tree for what seemed like forever, the absolute quiet of the grounds a blessing as they shared warmth and fleeting kisses, each one sweeter than the last but never as sweet as the first. They talked, Gaara telling her, in depth, about his uncle and his siblings. What his siblings were like when he was younger and how they tried to bond with him some years ago when they all started living with his uncle. How his father was murdered, but not really caring who did it and his mother, who died giving birth to him.

He never tried to prompt her to share something about herself, not because he knew she wouldn't be able to, but because he was content just being there and holding her and just... he couldn't put it into words. Just her being there was good enough for him. Besides, he was much too into telling her things that he had never even thought about telling someone else.

"Ahem."

Cutting off mid sentence, Gaara looked down at the two people below, Naruto following suit. The taller one looked familiar, so familiar in fact that he just couldn't place where he saw him before. The shorter one, however, didn't look at all familiar in the least. He had longish silver white hair tied back at the base of his neck and large, round, thin frame glasses. His style in clothes could be called upon, but really, Gaara didn't care. It was the shorter that coughed, but it was the taller, black haired man that had continued.

"Naruto, Naruto. Who _is_ this strapping young man?" Yellow, slightly slit eyes peered up at her, calculating and cold. The man didn't even glance at Gaara as he asked.

Naruto turned to him and asked quietly, "Do I _know_ him or something?"

"Oh, Naruto-chan, you forgot about little old me? I feel so sad, even after I spent all that time thinking about you as I chiselled away at those unforgiving bars," apparently, she didn't say it quietly enough.

"I'm sorry?" She ventured, looking confused.

He smiled coldly, "You're forgiven."

"Who are you?" Gaara demanded, shifting Naruto off his lap as he stood up and hid her partly from view. "What do you want with Naruto?"

It was the white haired man that answered, "That is none of your concern, Subaku no Gaara. It would be appreciated if you backed down and backed off."

"Naruto~" The black haired man crooned. "Would you like your memories returned?"

She stood up so fast behind him that he momentarily stumbled before recovering. The blond peaked around Gaara's arm with one eye trained on the creepy man, "What do you know of it?"

"Oh," he waved his long fingered hand dismissively. "I know all about your apparent amnesia. And I know how to get them back. Come with me and I'll show you." He held out a hand, palm up, the temptation of her memories making her stare at the hand with fascination. She looked back up.

Both her eyes were peaking around his arm now, "Who are you?"

Gaara caught the split second where the man's faced morphed into extreme irritation, but it was gone before he could think if it was real or not.

"My name is Orochimaru. I'm your real father, Naruto-chan."

Thunder boomed overhead, as if backing his claim upon the blonde's parentage. Dry lightening lit the sky up like fire, a flash of too bright yellow-red.

"Your lying!" Naruto cried out angrily, now standing side by side with Gaara. "Tsunade and Jiraiya told me themselves that my real parents are dead!"

"And would you really believe, my dear Naru, that those buffoons that took you away from me would tell you the truth? They lied to you!" He hissed, never looking every bit of a snake as he did then. His yellow eyes spat and crackled like the lightening overhead. "They lied to you and they will continue to lie to you as long as it keeps you away from me! _I_ am your father!"

Naruto recoiled, as if slapped and her face had grown pale in the dim lighting. Her eyes seemed for away for only a second, then they were back and darkened with anger.

"You lie!" She snapped out, so reminiscent of a Viper that Gaara almost believed that the man, Orochimaru, really was her father.

Like a snap of his fingers, the identity of the man hit him like a truck ramming into a thick, concrete wall.

"Naruto!" He exclaimed, grabbing her wrist. "This man is supposed to be in jail for murder and kidnapping!"

"What?" She asked, dumbfounded.

Orochimaru chuckled, clapping his pale, almost white hands together, "The wonders of youth! Such a wonderful memory you have, Subaku. It's so sad that I won't be able to see more of it. Kabuto."

"Hai," the white haired man replied, nodding sharply. He tightened the black leather gloves he was wearing and started for the tree.

"What's even more sad is that I'll have to retrain little Naru-chan," Orochimaru sighed dramatically, then paused and a smirk crept onto his thin lips. "Oh wait. Scratch that, it will be a _pleasure_."

Kabuto began climbing, his dark eyes intent on only Naruto, but they glanced at the redhead from time to time as if to make sure he was actually still there. Gaara forced the blonde back behind him and further up the tree as the white haired man got closer. He felt Naruto's lips near his ear.

"_Run."_

Before he could even register what she said, she pushed him forward and had somehow vaulted over his head in a magnificent flip, kicking Kabuto dead in the face, and landing on the slightly uneven ground awkwardly. The white haired man flew back with a cry, straight into a surprised Orochimaru and they both fell in a heap of tangled limbs on the grass. Gaara landed a split second after Naruto, not even able to recover from the surprise when she grabbed his wrist in a tight grip and _ran_.

He could hear the cursing behind them get quieter and quieter with every meter they covered on their way to the school. All too soon they could only hear their own panting from the exertion and the ever rising volume of students on five minute break. When they got close enough, at least a hundred students poured out of the school for their afternoon smoke, some already lighting theirs up. It was ridiculously easy to lose themselves in the anonymousness of being in a crowd, of being part of a whole which made finding them hell of a lot harder.

They had nearly reached the door to blessed protection via school administration when gun shots rang out across campus. The students scattered, screaming erupting in every which direction and chaos breaking out within the school. Gaara had forced Naruto to stop to crouch down, out of harm's direct path -being anywhere higher than the waist. More gunshots pierced through the screams, sending students into mass hysteria when one teacher spurted blood from his gaping chest and collapsed, blood pooling around him.

Naruto up and ran with the crowd, pulling Gaara closely behind her as the en mass students rushed to find safety. They abruptly came to a T, and like a school of panicking fish, the crowd split to go in opposite diretions. Naruto was pulled one way, and Gaara the other and no matter how hard they tried to hold on, the people rushing around them would not be deterred. With a wrenching scream from the blonde, Gaara found himself being pulled along with the crowd, riding the wave reluctantly, despite fighting for all he was worth just to escape it. Finally, when the crowd thinned after another T, he managed to push his way back the way he came.

The direction in which Naruto had been pulled in led directly to the gym, no doubt where most of the students sought to get to solely for the emergency exit leading right into the parking lot. And there was little doubt in his mind that the panic the students were experiencing led them to driving hazardously in an attempt to get away and preserve their lives. Cars horns and screeching tires, along with a mighty _boom_ backed his theory.

He stopped to regain his breath near a door to a random classroom, seeing it barren and empty like it was supposed to be, considering the circumstances. But there was no trace of Naruto anywhere and that worried him. When he turned to look back down the hallway, there was a dark, cloaked figure, standing stock still in the middle of the chaos in the foyer of the school. He was staring at the gym doors, which were across from the front doors of the school. Inside the gym were the sounds of yells and screams, and under those were grunts and thuds -a fight.

Running towards the doors, Gaara completely ignored the cloaked man and threw the gym doors open. The same people that had attacked Naruto some time ago were fighting against the group that arrived fight them off. Grey against black. He looked amongst and around the throng of fighting people, ignoring the flying blood and sounds of pain. At the far left corner stood Orochimaru and Kabuto, staring down two other people, a orange haired man and a blue haired woman. In the middle of the four crouched Naruto, holding her head as if in pain.

He was about to run in when the far off sound of sirens pierced straight through the fighting, making everyone stop to look at the walls and ceiling as if looking for the source of the sound. Gaara saw the orange haired man raise a black thing at Kabuto and a gunshot resounded off the gym walls, the white haired man's wide eyed face visible for only a second as he collapsed. He watched as Orochimaru grabbed a fistful of Naruto's blonde hair and yank her up, using her as a human shield as he backed up towards the emergency exit. He watched as Naruto twisted around violently, kicking the snake-like man a little too firmly between the legs and yank him around to toss him towards the other two people. The orange haired man pulled the trigger on the gun he held, but was knocked backwards by Orochimaru, the blue haired woman falling with them. The bullet that had been shot had missed Naruto by a foot, impacting the concrete wall behind her.

Panicked, the blonde ran around the outside of the gym, catching sight of Gaara not a moment before she ran into him. He managed to catch her before they both fell to the floor, checking her over.

"Are you okay?" He yelled to be heard over the roar of everything around them.

He saw her nod, "I'm fine!" She yelled back. "Let's get out of here!"

He nodded back, grasping her wrist in his hand tightly, he turned to lead her out of the gym and to safety. A screamed, "Gaara!" was all the warning he had before an even larger, but more graceful hand grabbed his throat. Letting go of Naruto's wrist as he was lifted, he put both hands on the offending wrist belonging to the man from earlier and managed to choke out, "Run!"

"Let him go, you creep!" Naruto yelled, jumping at the dark haired, cloaked man. Gaara was thrown to the side almost casually, impacting the wall harshly and sliding to the ground. When he finally managed to regain his senses, he looked up to see the man, who looked eerily like Sasuke Uchiha, pull Naruto to him and shove a syringe into her throat. She was unconscious a second later, eyes rolling up into her head and going limp.

"Naru-!" Gaara started, but was shoved against the wall by a blond haired man, the one that attacked Naruto that day. He was holding a picture, looking between it and him with a frown.

"I think this is him, yeah!" He suddenly spoke up, his face bright with excitement. "Who knew we'd find three of them here?"

_Three...? What is he talking about?_

"What are you talking about?" He snarled out, trying to get out of the hold to get to Naruto, who was now being hoisted up on the man's broad shoulder. Wait a minute... "Uchiha Itachi?"

"Yeah, looks like your cover is blown, Itachi-san, yeah."

"Deidara," Itachi intoned, looking at Gaara with deep, dark red eyes. "Let's go."

"Yeah, yeah."

Gaara didn't even see the syringe before he felt something prick his neck. As he dropped into unconsciousness, the last thing on his mind was Naruto.

* * *

He was looked around madly, black locks whipping about his face irritably. Dark eyes sought something that was there before, trying to find something that couldn't be there anymore. _Where is he?_

There!

He jolted forwards, running as fast as he could towards his target, whom had a blonde haired person thrown over his shoulder. The blonde was dangling limply, hair everywhere. A blond haired man was next to him, a redhead over his shoulder. As he ran, he watched as they were both accosted by the principle and a white haired man. He opened his mouth.

"Ita-mmph!" A hand appeared in front of him at the last moment, and a damp cloth was forced over his mouth. Before he could even think, a sickeningly bitter sweet scent cloyed up his nose and down his throat and he was unconscious a moment later.

* * *

The room was dark, everything cast into shadow save the front of the desk, the computer screen and the person in front of it. Furious typing could be heard, fingers flying over the keys like little wings on each. The images on the screen constantly changed, new windows popping up and old windows closing down, words scrolling endlessly in electric blue upon black. Dark blue hair shook with it's owner, messing it up even more. In the limelight of the computer screen, the person looked too pale.

Ice blue eyes glowed as they moved, constantly reading one thing and affirming another as window after window popped up. The typing stopped for but a moment, the person exuding a sigh, then started up again. A green window pupped up, the words ACCESS GRANTED blinking three times. A moment of complete silence...

And like the computer's metaphorical ass was on fire, window after window after window after window of information, plans, diagrams, notes, every last vestige of information stored on the main, _very_ high security computer squeezed onto the screen. Long, delicate fingers still hovered over the keyboard as ice blue eyes whizzed over everything, taking it all in and digesting it. Then, a jump drive from a hidden pocket was inserted and all the information on the screen was downloaded onto the drive, everything being erased as it went. At the end of five minutes, the computer was empty of any and all plans, bank transitions and commissions.

The person packed swiftly, speaking of long ease of practice. A basic wipe down of the keyboard erased all fingerprints and a simple shake cleaned the inside out. The drive was taken out and stashed in a different hidden pocket, a silent hand held vacuum swiped over all surfaces. When the person left, not a trace of their presence was left in the room but a hand drawn picture of a ten tailed wolf stabbed to the wall with a strangely shaped knife.

* * *

Aoiro stood in shock, staring at the mass of police officers and even military personal that stalked around the school grounds. There were hundreds of students being interviewed, a bloodstained sheet covered body being loaded into an ambulance and several dozen people being treated on sight. All the present police cars were flashing, three of which had one or two people in the backseat for one reason or another.

Jiraiya and Tsunade caught her attention, talking to some men in black suits. They seemed to be familiar with each other. Looking around to see if anyone was looking at her, Aoiro sidled up behind a police car and sat down next to the back tire. From there, she was in range to hear what was being said while being inconspicuous; for the most part, anyway.

"... back, but they managed to get away with her and the boy. Right now, we don't know where they are nor do we have any clue where they could have taken her and the Nara boy."

"Damn it. I thought you said that they left the country? How _useless_ are your men these days, Ibiki?"

"Be careful, Tsunade-_Hime_ of what you say this day. I lost two of my best men that were undercover under _your_ order."

A sigh, "And I'm sorry for your loss. But they died doing their job, as they would have wanted to go. Right now, Naruto's safety is top priority and we _still_ don't know what the Akatsuki is planning."

_Akatsuki? What does Akatsuki have to do with anything? And what about Naruto?_

"Tsunade, they'll find her. We have to believe that they can. Right now, you _need_ to rest before-"

"Yes, yes, I know, Jiraiya. Do whatever it takes, Ibiki. _Whatever it takes_ to find Naruto. Understand?"

"Understood, Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama. You have my word."

"Good, get to it then."

Someone walked away, boots heavy upon the cement.

"Come out, Aoiro. We know your there."

Jumping slightly, Aoiro blushed, the dark red contrasting horribly with her blue hair. She composed herself before standing, facing down Naruto's guardians with determined eyes.

"What's going on? What does Akatsuki have to do with this? And what's wrong with Naruto?"

Tsunade sighed, rubbing her temple, trying to soothe the raging migraine that formed and just won't go away. Jiraiya rubbed her arm comfortingly before turning to the blue haired girl.

"Come with us."

The sky opened up and lightening flashed across the heavens.

* * *

**To all you GaaNaru lovers, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And to the rest of you, I bid thee the same!**

**Now, there were some _very_ close guesses for the 'phantoms' Naruto experienced in the earlier chapter. Only, just a few guessed at all! C'mon! Poor Kurome-plushie-chan wants a home!**

**And; CALLING ALL GAIANS OUT THERE READING THIS! My username is NekoGenesis. Feel free to add me. That way, you can kick my arse into gear when I'm taking too long. xD**

**Here's to hoping (I'm staring to feel like it's futile to hope anymore...) that it won't take a bloody year for me to update again. But I think you'll ALL be happy to know that it wasn't writer's block keeping me from it! So, hooray for that!**

**~RuneNeko**


	11. Handle This

**To all my fans of this story: I did it again. I hope you guys enjoy this (long) awaited chapter and I am so sorry for the delay. The next chapter (the second part of this finale) should be up much sooner than this took to get out. xD**

Summary: In cyberspace, she is known as Kyuubi, the only hacker in the world who was able to hack into Area 51's top secret files, and not get caught until just before she completely withdrew from their servers. Many groups of dangerous people are desperately trying to find her real identity, but she wears many masks. Her new high school won't know what hit it.

Pairings: GaaNaru. Onesided; ItaNaru.

Other pairings: ShikaTema, ChouIno, JiraTsun.

Future pairings: KibaHina, NejiTen, IbikiAnko, AsuKur.

Warning: This story is rated M for coarse language, content not suitable for younger audiences.

Disclaimer: If I don't say this, Kishimoto would sooo sue my ass. So, sadly, or unsadly, depending on the person, I don't own Naruto.

Notes: I do not know if some of the stuff in this chapter is actually fact. So, I'm happy that its fanfiction and not Wikipedia.

Side Note: Nobody but Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Naruto knows who Kyuubi really is. That fact was not revealed during the investigation/interrogation when Orochimaru and Kabuto were imprisoned, and when Naruto was interrogated afterwards.

Side Note2: Aoiro is a real person, just has a different name. She takes on the personality of my best friend, who requested I integrate her character into the story as one of the hackers. Which hacker, you'll soon find out.

Side Note3: There are a lot of changes to Naruto's overall character and personality since her memory loss. So, don't be entirely surprised by what you find. Amnesia, to my knowledge, is just as crippling as losing an arm or leg. Some people lose their entire identities, their entire lives and most do not completely recover.

"I'm speaking here!" – talking

'I see dead people.' - thinking

I'm a monkey's aunt – narrating

_I don't care who you are – memories/flashbacks_

"_You_!" – emphasis on words/yelling

"This is so lame." – online chatting/information

Reviews:

xxemogoddessxx - haha, this should add to your questions. Don't worry, I hope to tie up all loose ends in the next chapter, and your questions should be included. Enjoy!

Usa-san - You were actually one of the closest to correctly guessing, however, it was the wrong branch of memory -sweatdrop- the answer is at the bottom. I'm sorry for the long delay. Please enjoy.

Winter's Black Chill - I enjoyed your review immensely, mostly for how you described Gaara xD I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. Hopefully the GaaNaru fluff in it will pacify your inner reader beast. I know it soothes mine! -wink-

Chibi Tsuki - Unfortunately, Itachi doesn't really make an appearance in this chapter, but he definitely will next chapter! This chapter is kind of suspenseful, hope you enjoy the change of pace. xD Thanks for the review!

HopeInHell - -sweatdrops and scratches back of head in embarrassment- ah, well... I guess my apologies are becoming a bit repetitive, ne? Eh, hope you enjoy this installment and the knowledge that the next one definitely won't take as long (God forbid I drag this on any further).

Thanks for your reviews!

* * *

.:'Handle This':.  
_  
Itty bitty Kitsune, the end is finally near,  
__Your face is crusted with the water you shed, tear, tear, tear.  
__Cry all you want, Little Kitsune, cry stains wash away,  
__Unlike the stains on your soul that will never fade away._

* * *

He groaned as he came back to awareness, a quick glance over his bedside table told him he had only been asleep for a few hours. Squeezing his eyes shut, grunting at the burn on the underside of his eyelids, he half sat up and tried to concentrate. Without coffee, it took a fair amount of focus before he could recall why he had woken in the first place when he should be resting.

His cell was blaring somewhere downstairs.

Cursing his stupidity in leaving it in the living room where he dropped it hours prior, he grunted as he stood, his body stretching on its own accord. He groaned in relief when several pops were felt and his body relaxed. Running a hand over his face, he stumbled blearily out of his room and down the stairs haphazardly, nearly tripping over his own feet on the way down. Expletives exploded under his breath as he made a wrong turn into his kitchen.

Finally locating his phone, after the third time it had quietened and started up again, he flipped it open expertly despite his lacking mind and held it against his scarred ear.

"Ibiki."

He listened to the voice on the other end and was abruptly brought out of his sleep stupor at the news.

"What do you mean the Rinnengan Corporation was hacked last night?"

He made his way to the kitchen, a dark frown on his face. Rinnengan Corporation was a multi-billion international corporation with branches that fanned out all over the world in every area of science, health, and product manufacturing. It was one of the three leading businesses in the world. Its competitors, Rasengan Incorporated –which was mainly into technological advancements, health and body products, the oil industry, and book production and manufacturing- and Shic Fantique –the leader in the world of outer beauty which included fashion, make-up, body procedures, a huge portion of the movie industry, and clothes.

"The Big Three" they were often called when talked about as a whole and were virtually untouchable when trying to dig up anything that could be used against them.

Except for now, that is.

Ibiki stopped at the fridge, still and frozen, "_Their databanks were wiped?_"

He started up the coffee maker, but paused when he heard the next part. A snarl appeared on his scarred face, and to anyone who didn't know him, it would look like he was exceptionally angry. On the contrary, like a wolf in sheep clothing, the expression on his face betrayed just how excited he was despite the interruption to his sleep.

"I'll be there in ten minutes."

He flipped the phone shut, turned off the coffee maker and raced upstairs to shower and dress.

* * *

Ibiki entered the Federal Bureau of Investigations, flashing his credentials to the receptionist and hurried to the fifth floor. Leaving the elevator, he flashed his credentials to the officers stationed there and continued on into the conference room where several agents were already set up, stacks of papers all over the place and laptop computers out and running. Another dozen agents were sorting papers that looked fresh off the printer and running around on errands. The main screen for their projected information when the time called for such instances was set up and the FBI's top technical analyst's face was stretched across the screen. He was talking rapidly about something, pens and pencils in his rough ponytail, looking haggard but lively.

"… I've just sent the compiled list to the photocopier. It seems that Rinnengan Corporation was just a massive, complicated cover for criminal activity dating back to its founding two centuries back. And this is just recorded information. Before its name change prior to the millennium, it was called Jinchuurinki. And before the turning of the twentieth century, it was Red Dawn. And before the turn of the nineteenth century, it was God's Apostles. It hints that they've been in business long before this, but without the hard copies of their recorded business, there isn't any further information on it. I've already done research on each of the names but there isn't much to be found on any of them save the current. And not even that has any information that already isn't known to the public."

Someone came out from the photocopier room with some papers –the list their techie was talking about, he guessed. He slammed the door shut behind him and everyone paused in their various activities to see the cause of the commotion. Satisfied, Ibiki drew to his full, intimidating stature and spoke.

"Someone want to debrief me before any further action is taken?"

A sigh, then: "Maa, maa, Ibiki. Still like making scenes?"

Ibiki turned to Supervisory Special Agent Hatake Kakashi and followed him into the other agent's office just around the corner from the conference room. The chaos of the room was instantly muffled as the door shut behind Ibiki. Kakashi collapsed carelessly into his chair behind his desk and gestured for the other chair in a mock motion, as Ibiki had already taken it.

"Start from the beginning. I want to know everything that happened since I left the office."

Kakashi pulled a face –or what Ibiki could guess was a face from what he could see of the other man's mostly covered head- and sighed again. Then, he began in a professional tone, clipped and precise.

It seemed that nothing happened after he left. No one had anything to report and there were no new leads. Then, just as Nara Shiraku, their head tech analyst was about to pack up for the night, his already shut down computer system had started up on its own. An extremely detailed picture of a ten tailed wolf covered in blue flames appeared on the screen and before Nara could regain access to his database, a five hundred and forty nine gigabit file was downloaded straight into the Bureau's fully firewalled system and hard drive. Ten minutes later, the Bureau had received a call that Rinnengan Corporation was hacked and their database wiped. The only evidence they found was a detailed, hand drawn picture of a ten tailed wolf that had no prints, no DNA, nothing. They were able to identify the pencil crayons used, which had only led back to Rinnengan Corporation products. The paper that was used was a Rasengan Incorporated product and the strangely shaped knife used to pin the picture to the wall was from Shic Fantique's relatively new line of professional scissors.

There was nothing to point in the direction of a potential suspect of the crime, but they had, metaphorically speaking, bigger fish to fry. The information that was given to them by, as they dubbed, Anonymous Benefactor, was much more than enough to permanently shut down Rinnengan Corporation and cut the city's criminal activity, and the world's criminal activity in Rinnengan employ, in half.

Ibiki, scarred chin in hand, had a devious smirk on his face. Anonymous Benefactor was making waves. Big waves. In fact, the ripples from this one move on the chess board were going to be making ripples in the world's pond for a long time to come. He and Kakashi moved back to the conference room and another door slamming effectively got everyone's attention.

"I want all available agents not on top assignments recalled back to the Bureau to help with this investigation. Get the local Police Department on that list that Nara compiled. I want INTERPOL made aware of the situation." He pointed to Nara, whom was looking tiredly back at him from the screen. "Nara. I know you're tired. However, you are still needed here. I want you to head the media liaisons. Keep those vultures off the investigation for the time being. I'm also putting you in charge of all our technical analysts. I want all this information sorted so that we can move into place in shutting down Rinnengan Corporation." He turned to Anko, whom was watching everything with her ever present smirk on her face. "Anko. You're to start an investigation into Rasengan Incorporated and Shic Fantique. Make sure to make good use of the judges, whom will be made aware of our situation. I want anything of interest. You know how to do your job." She mock saluted and left, tan trench coat fluttering behind her shapely figure. He turned towards Uchiha Fugaku, whom was a senior agent that now worked directly for the president. "Get Kakashi to fully debrief you. Then, you will report directly to the president on everything that has happened thus far. Make sure to keep him updated as the investigation goes on. Kakashi." He turned to the other agent, but the man was already a step ahead of him, moving out of the office with Uchiha behind him.

Ibiki breathed for a moment before noticing the lack of activity.

"What are you all waiting for? _Get to work!_"

* * *

"Are you serious? Is there any information on Naruto?"

"_Nara is still looking into it, however, he found a few documents that could be important to the investigation. Two of the documents had a very basic outline of a plan by a group called Akatsuki. Sound familiar?"_

Tsunade turned to look at Jiraiya, who looked nearly dumbfounded at the word. Akatsuki was their biggest success and their worse failure in the history of their career in the Bureau. They had stopped a lot of Akatsuki's activities in the criminal world, busted some of the biggest drug rings in history, shut down a lot of their bases, and arrested a lot of those in their employ. Akatsuki is what made their group so famous and sought after during their FBI days. Their success was the highest in the Bureau. However, everyone they had ever captured had somehow managed to pull suicide and they never got anyone from the inner circle. They made a big difference, but not enough to shut Akatsuki down. Not even close enough to find the identification of any of the inner circle either.

The group was still the biggest, blackest stains in their life.

What did they want with Naruto though?

"_It seems like Akatsuki was after nine people. Who they were, were not written down anywhere but pictures were attached to the documents. We have several agents trying to identify them as we speak. Three of them are already identified. One is Naruto. The other two is Subaku no Gaara and Nara Shikamaru. Those are the three that were taken from the school."_

Jiraiya pushed Tsunade out of the range of the webcam and his large face took her place, "What was the plan?"

Ibiki looked back at them through the computer.

"_In one clichéd term? World domination. They had planned on gathering these nine people and using their abilities to crash the world government and take over during the resulting chaos."_

Tsunade pushed Jiraiya back out of the shot with a scowl on her pretty face, "What was the other document about?"

Ibiki paused a moment, looking gleeful, _"A detailed documentation of their history going as far back as the early sixth century. Akatsuki has been around for fifteen centuries. There is even hinting of going back further. However, there are only inscriptions as far back as the beginning of the fifth century, and information from that far into the past is mostly unavailable to us for the moment. They had been a large part of the decline of the Roman Empire. That part wasn't detailed, but I guess that any information from that had been lost."_

Tsunade blanched. From the corner of her eye, she noticed that Jiraiya had done the same. Ibiki looked absolutely amused at their expense. Most likely gaining back some of his own lost dignity at having the same reaction.

"_Here's the real kicker. Akatsuki's a ten man team. Every time they popped their ugly head out of the woodwork, they've had ten members and have always operated from within the shadows of society. Nara found only a few officially documented times where Akatsuki was working in the open due to some protection, but since those times were few and far in between, nobody ever connected the dots. These guys have been around for a long time and they are _good_."_

Jiraiya groaned at the information. Great. A diabolical group of ages past that have watched the world change and orchestrated most of it.

Ibiki had turned away from the webcam for a moment before disappearing, his seat empty. They heard blurred background voices, a definite exclamation that they could confidently connect to Ibiki and a flutter of paper. Then, Ibiki was back, looking terribly excited and morose at the same time.

"_They've identified the rest of the pictures. All but one is reported missing."_

"So…?"

"_The last one was taken in broad daylight ten minutes ago."_

The couple looked at each other in askance. Disbelief.

"_This investigation is now officially strictly confidential to those not on the team. I am no longer allowed to provide you with information. Gomen."_

"Wait! You've gotta give us something! The Bureau can't just cut us out from this investigation! This is _our_ case!" Tsunade yelled, slamming her hands on the desk. It groaned dangerously.

Ibiki's eyes sparkled ominously. _"This is no longer in our hands. This is a case of international security. The President has ordered all borders in a level five lockdown. The state is in a nationwide lockdown. Heck, after informing INTERPOL, the world is in a lockdown. The shits about to hit the fan and there is nothing any of us can do to stop it. I'm sorry."_

The webcam connection was lost and Ibiki's face disappeared into a square of black with white block letters: _Connection Lost…_

Tsunade let out a roar of anger and her fists crashed down upon the laptop computer, smashing the pricey piece of technology into a mess of unrecognisable scrap. The desk cracked down the middle and collapsed in on itself. Her fists continued to pound the splintered wood until her skin was cracked and bleeding, several of her fingers broken and both of her wrists sprained before Jiraiya managed to gain control of her wild temper. She collapsed into his larger frame, sobbing and grief stricken, allowing the older man to lead her to the bathroom to fix her hands.

She was so numb to her surroundings that not even Jiraiya resetting her broken fingers managed to rouse her from her state.

All she could think about was the day they had all gone to the mall, together, for once since rescuing Naruto from Orochimaru feeling like an actual family. For once she felt like a mother. A mother that Dan would have been proud of marrying; grinning that secretive grin. Always giving his full, unrelenting support before she could ever think to ask of it. A mother that she and Nawaki had often conversed about, never having one of their own and never knowing what one felt like, but had often just imagined.

For the first time, Tsunade lost the hope she had harboured in her heart that she could finally have her very own child in Naruto. Naruto, whom had been reborn from the clean slate that is amnesia and finally manageable. Finally reachable. For the years they had her under their care, it seemed like there was this large chasm between them and her. Like she was the impregnable island in the middle of the Bermuda triangle and they, the daring and stupid explorers. Whatever they did, said, planned… it was all met with a stony resistance that never gave. Never chipped nor eroded.

Tsunade felt horrible and ugly for thinking that the girl's amnesia was a good thing. Her missing memories took with them the girl's identity, her place in the world. Tsunade was glad that Naruto no longer had a footing in the world so that she could finally have a daughter. And it was glorious. She flew so high in that short time that she nearly touched God's face. But now…

Now…

* * *

She awoke heavy.

There were hands on her face, but she was so heavy. Something was holding her down. She couldn't even twitch, she was so tightly strapped down. She couldn't even move her head. Colors blurred out of sync with time, noises blobbed together and deep, slow, unrecognisable and far away. Red was predominant. She blinked. The world swam before her eyes.

She tried to concentrate. It was never enough. She couldn't focus. Her mind was fuzzy, so fuzzy that she couldn't even bring up the reason why the color red was bothering her. Red was pretty, but orange was better. Wait…

That wasn't right.

Orange was garish and disgusting. She would never be caught dead in orange. Black. Black always swathed her in comfort. Black was the shadows of her past that shaped her. Black was the color of-

Yellow flashed across her vision.

She couldn't make sense of the emotions that arose in a flurry. Her head was starting to hurt. It was a dull, throbbing pinch in the back of her head that, like crawling, creeping, spindly fingers, began to grow and grow to the rest of her head. Soon, the entirety of her head throbbed in beat with her heart and if she could move, she would be wincing. Grimacing. Anything really.

Calmly, and with patience she never knew she had-

-she had tonnes of patience. It was practically beaten into her. Wait for the perfect moment to slip in. it was all about timing… almost the-

-the world's hazy quadruplets merged into twins and swam hazily into focus. Her limbs still felt heavy, she still felt those hands on her face, but the voices were still so far away, like trying to hear someone that's yelling across a plain. She blinked and looked around. The movement forced the world back into grinning twins as everything moved back into focus, her perceptions catching up to real time. Nothing that her brain was registering made sense. It was all garbled.

A flash of red.

_So close… almost there… fibers under her sweaty hands, fingers on her cheeks… he was so close…! So close…!_

She blinked and the images were gone. Teal eyes stared back. They were… beautiful, her mind supplied sluggishly. Suddenly, the eyes were gone. They just disappeared and she blinked. The world was still, so where did they go? She mourned the loss of the eyes for a moment, her inability to focus making her mind jump to something else.

The walls were white.

"_We find you guilty…" white walls. Stone walls. Brown dividers. Lewd eyes, judging eyes. Who were they to stick their noses in something that wasn't their business? A flash of orange. The world blurs into colors, hands coming sharply into focus and disappearing just as quick. Her hair tangling as it flew behind her. Small arms wrapping solidly around a much too thin waist, slipping something into folds of orange. It was… it was…_

"_I will come back for you, my Kitsune. Just you wait."_

She blinked, and the images crawled back into wherever they came, and she could not pull them back out. The world swam before her again and she promptly decided, as her lids steadily gained tons of weight in seconds that a nap was in order.

She passed out.

* * *

"She out again?"

Gaara nodded, disappointment written all over his pale features. His eyes never moved from Naruto's unconscious form, but he knew who spoke to him.

The Yonbi hacker was not who Gaara imagined him to be. He was the shortest of the nine in the room, including Naruto, and acted nothing like a monkey. The Yonbi hacked like a monkey –in which was brash, teasing, poking, irritating to those trying to track, and taunted mercilessly, sometimes cruelly and when he felt threatened, sent ungodly viruses that were nightmares to those… less skilled- but looked and acted nothing like one. It was no wonder he was the last to be thrown, unconscious, into the room with the rest. He was so plain Jane that Gaara had to be thoroughly convinced by the soft spoken, mild boy through the few hacking escapades they went on.

Though, as far as the Yonbi –or Jack Olsen- was concerned, he was the only one that didn't act like the animal his name was portrayed as. Well, there was Gaara too, but he was so detached from the others at the moment that he didn't even consider himself a part of them. He was so far under the other's skill level that he wondered why he was even here.

The Nibi was so catlike that Gaara was bemused to find that she didn't, in fact, have cat ears and a tail. She acted exactly the way she did during her hacking, all claws getting in and all slinky black cat getting out. She liked to tear apart the system she was hacking into so many pieces that when she finally retreated, it was unlikely that the creator would be able to put it back together. As far as he knew, nobody was able to. Though, she was respectful to the better hackers and didn't even try to poke around them. Sure, he was certain that they conversed from time to time, but she didn't do things that were beyond her.

Almost as if she took the saying, _curiosity killed the cat_ literally. Not even the second part of the saying was enough to make her go beyond her skill level.

The Sanbi was an older man, somewhere in his sixties, with lots and lots of white hair. The man also looked partially blind, as his eyes were constantly squinted. He, and two others almost physically looked like their tailed beast. He had a huge hump on his back and was always sitting hunched over but his head was held as high as it could go. He looked like an old turtle, almost literally.

The Gobi was a surprise in itself. Who knew that Nara Shikamaru, the school's resident genius with an IQ over two hundred, was the Gobi no Irukauma? The world was so small, Gaara mused, glancing over at the nonchalant, snoozing teenager. That scraped over his already severely frayed nerves, but Gaara held his irritation in. No use creating unneeded tension and drama to the room. Already enough of that.

The Rokubi was an extremely obese woman, well over five hundred pounds, that hadn't moved from the corner she had been placed in. She had admitted, with a tear stained face that hadn't been cleaned in a long while, that she was the first to have been taken well over two months ago. She had this sanitation thing going on that Gaara really didn't want to go into details on the inner workings. Only that it worked to keep her outgoing matter from spilling all over the place, as the thirty some woman couldn't even get up on her own and nobody was really strong enough to even try to help her. Except for one, but the man seemed like he barely even visited the real world and was never lucid enough for conversation.

The Nanabi was an early twenties, lanky man that was always sitting on his own on his bed, staring off into space, his fingers always, always twitching. In fact, he was constantly twitching in some way, his back hunched and his nose long, a disfigurement in his nose that had the tip separated like a forked tongue. His nose reached so far from his face that it almost literally looked like a pronged horn. He was an okay guy when he finally rejoined the real world, lively and eccentric.

The Hachibi was a giant specimen of a man that looked remarkably like a Hollywood Frankenstein. All sharp cut angles and blank expressions. His hair was even flat and black. He easily towered over everyone and would make an intimidating figure, if he ever came out of the sanctuary of his mind. Gaara, open-minded as he was, was having a hard time believing that this huge, brawny, Frankenstein-y guy was the Hachibi hacker. It seriously boggled his mind.

And then there was Naruto.

It was strange to think that the person he had depended on so thoroughly in cyberspace was the one person in real life that he had ever felt attracted to.

He sighed, rubbing the back of his fingers over Naruto's cheeks softly.

* * *

He cursed softly as he lost count of the cracks in the wall opposite of him and started over. The place he was in was dank, smelled disgusting, and the only reason he was sitting was because he somehow managed to keep his jacket during his abducting.

It was currently under his ass, keeping whatever was on the floor at bay.

He shivered absently, now used to the chill that permeated from the walls. He was not giving up his only protection from the floor just to keep warm. Fuck that. He hasn't even seen anybody yet. It grated on him sadistically to get the long delayed reality check that he wasn't as important as he thought he was. His mother's loving smile flashed through his mind and it only made him more miserable. He was going to miss her seven year anniversary pretty soon. He never liked missing it. He felt he owed it to his mother to visit her grave on the day of her death, armed with her favourite flowers and his ipod full of songs that she liked. Of songs she would never sing to him again.

His hatred of his brother was stoked into a roaring blaze as he remembered seeing that bastard walking away from him, like he wasn't important enough, like the bastard hadn't done anything wrong.

Sasuke gritted his teeth, losing count once again and forcing himself to start over in order to calm down. However, his anger was instantly quenched when he heard a loud squeak in the distance and footsteps approaching. He stood, carefully putting his jacket on to keep whatever germs manifested on the outside away from him and leaned against the back wall, keeping his head bowed to keep the grime of the wall away from his hair.

Really, he may be a kidnappee, but he had standards.

Finally, two familiar men came into view and Sasuke's near eidetic memory kicked into gear.

Hebi Orochimaru and Yakushi Kabuto. Known and convicted criminals on charges of blackmail, murders of the second degree, extortion, illegal possession of fire arms, illegal possession and distribution of drugs, kidnapping… that was only naming the bigger ones. There were too numerous minor charges against him to name, but even all of them together barely even added to the man's life sentences. His father was one of the few people to put the man away.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun. My dear Sasuke-kun. What a surprise it was when we caught you, such hatred in your eyes as you watched Itachi-kun get away." Orochimaru hissed out, smirking in satisfaction as Sasuke bristled.

"Who the hell are you?" Sasuke feigned ignorance, not wanting to give some kind of advantage away. It might come in handy later. "What do you want with me?"

"Tell me, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru ran one long, pale finger along the grimy looking bars, and then grabbed the bars in both hands and nearly thrusting his skinny head all the way through the gap; a manic grin on his porcelain face. _"Do you want to kill Itachi?"_

Having refrain from jumping away like some nervous schoolgirl, Sasuke glared hatefully into slitted yellow eyes, idly wondering how the man gained such an effect. "And what would be in it for you?" He shoved his hands into his pockets nonchalantly, as if the thought of killing Itachi, his lifelong goal of sorts for retribution for his mother, was the last thing on his list of things to do. Orochimaru hissed in that snake like way that made him seem more like his namesake.

The pale, black haired man cocked his head to the side, reminding Sasuke of those documentaries of insane people in asylums that he watched late at night when he couldn't sleep. The relating images did nothing to help him.

"He… ssssstole… sssssomething of mine, ssssomething preciousssssss…" the man hissed out sensuously. "… to me. I want it back. You help me regain what I have lossssssst and I'll give you Itachi to do with what you wissssssssh."

Sasuke deliberated, "And if I refuse?"

"Well," Orochimaru carelessly removed his head from the bars and arrogantly wiped his hands down Kabuto's shoulders, the grime from the bars transferring the uncaring man's sleeves. Sasuke gave a small grimace. "In that case, I suppose I'd just… forget that you exist down here. My time in prison has had its toll on me. I've been all shades of forgetful these days. Why, just the other day," Orochimaru gestured gracefully with his hands. "I asked Kabuto where I had placed a fellow by the name of Hayate-kun and you know what he told me?"

Sasuke hid his reaction well. Hayate was Kakashi's good friend until he went missing for a few days on a mission and turned up dead. Sasuke was given little more than his date of death and how he died, but no details. Torture. The man had endured a short hour of intense torture before he died and his body dumped into a local dumpster. He hadn't seen Kakashi for weeks after the funeral.

"He told me," Orochimaru continued without waiting for an answer. "That Hayate-kun got a royal burial after I was done playing with him. Such a shame, that man's scream was like music to the ears." Orochimaru sighed dramatically and turned away from Sasuke, coincidentally prohibiting Kabuto's view of Sasuke just as the young Uchiha jerked slightly at the revelation of Hayate's killer. He clenched his fists for a second before forcing himself to relax a moment before Orochimaru turned back towards him.

"So, Sasuke-kun, do we have a deal? I do hate wasting beautiful tools."

Sasuke inwardly cringed and nodded.

Orochimaru smirked, satisfied, yellow eyes deadly in the dim light, "Good."

* * *

She awoke to fingers on her face and a heavy weight on her chest over her bosom.

She looked down as best she could, only to see a mass of fuzzy red. A sliver of pale skin was visible in the shaft of moonlight coming from a small window too high up to see out of. Whatever else she couldn't see was covered in a clothed arm as it swept from her face and hid the persons face from view.

The room was quiet.

Shifting, she sat up, the person that fell asleep on her limply falling into her lap and staying there, not even waking. Worried, for she now recognised Gaara and knew him to be so light a sleeper that a pin could drop in the hallway outside his closed door and he would wake. He was breathing evenly, but that didn't ease her worry.

The shaft of moonlight was behind her head but helped little with lighting up the rest of the pitch dark room. She could barely make out seven other figures passed out halfway off beds, on the floors, and even sitting up. There was this huge mass in the corner that was easy to make out due to the easy to see contrast between the white wall and whatever was there, but that didn't make it any easier to figure out what the hell it was.

Shifting slightly to make room, as getting up to investigate sounded like a stupid idea no matter how much her curiosity was clamouring for attention, she pulled Gaara easily into the bed and curled around him almost protectively. For a while, she simply laid there and wondered things, anything, that came into her mind. She had briefly wondered how long she was out for, as the last thing she could remember was the attack at her house, but figured it was long enough for any side effects from the drugs used on her to have passed and gone home.

That thought made her grimace.

She felt like she was missing something important and wracked her brain for whatever it might be, but nothing came to mind. There was this black spot in her mind that was just… blank. She couldn't access it, no matter how many times she prodded it, so she left it be.

She wondered for a while how Kurome was doing. She hoped he was alive. The memory of him just laying yonder, still breathing but not moving, was making her sick to her stomach and she fervently hoped that he was fine. She couldn't stomach the thought of him dying and couldn't even force herself to imagine her life without him.

It was already turning out to be a nightmare.

She wondered why Gaara was here. Or where here even was. She wondered if Aoiro managed to avoid attention. She wondered where Team Hebi was and if they were okay. She wondered a lot of things as she laid there, absently running her hand through short red spikes, staring out into the blackness of the room with a faraway look in her eye.

There was a hissing sound and the blackness converged on her.

* * *

A caressing hand woke her.

She opened her eyes and blinked blearily at a white ceiling. Where the hell was she? Snapping into a sitting position, she looked around wildly, hair flying every which way from her increasing panic. The School! What the hell happened?

"Hey, calm down. Your safe… well, the moment is safe anyway. Nobody trying to kill us, at the moment like I said, but nobody ain't gonna hurt ya in here."

"Naruto."

She turned to Gaara's soothing baritone and wrapped her arms around him. Over his shoulder, she saw the boy who spoke first, who was so tiny that he was even smaller than her.

Huh. Will wonders never cease?

"Gaara," she said into his shoulder, making the name come out a bit muffled but understandable. "Where are we? What are you doing here? What are we doing here? What are they doing here? I think I'm having a panic attack."

Gaara tightened his arms around her waist in an attempt to calm her down enough to get a word in edgewise and surprisingly, she completely melted within his embrace.

"Wow, never seen that kind of reaction before," the small boy muttered to himself.

"I don't know the answers myself. You know the hackers of cyberspace? They're all here, in this room. Guess who I am."

Naruto pulled away, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

"Hackers?"

* * *

**Okay, well, I covered a lot of bases in this chapter and it's all coming together nicely -rubs hands against each other with an evil cackle- anyway. Sorry again for taking so long. There should be the second part of the finale here, and maybe, maybe not an epilogue, depending on how people take the ending. I still can't believe it took me so long to finish and how grotesquely it mutated from my original idea. I can tell you now that a lot of stuff after chapter seven was not how I had planned. **

**Anywho. Time for some answers. First of all, the shadow figures I question peeps about for the last few chapters. They were actually Naruto's memory trying to take metaphysical form. Since she changed her room so much, she removed most of what would have reminded her of what she had forgotten and I'm guessing she would have regained her memories faster. Alas, being the bright, orange monstrosity that she is, she only hampered herself. Shame really. Good job everyone who came so close to getting the correct answer! Unfortunately, Kurome-chan doesn't gain a home at the moment, but it will be given to my 200th reviewer! xD**

**The next chapter should be up much, much, much, MUCH sooner than this damn thing took. Then, I can finally work on my other stories. Eternal Love is so neglected TT^TT**


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